2  i 

^ 


SLAV  AND  MOSLEM, 


COPYRIGHT  BY 

J.  BRODHEAD, 

DEC.,  1893. 


PRINTED    AND    BOUND    BY 

WALKEK,  EVANS  &  COGSWELL  Co. 
CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 
1894. 


SLAV  AND  MOSLEM. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES 


-BY- 


J.  MILLIKEN  NAPIER  BRODHEAD. 


AIKEN    PUBLISHING   CO., 
AIKEN.  S.  C. 


COTsTTEISTTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PRELIMINARY  REMARKS.  PAGE 
Governments  are  not  improvised — Liberties  are 
taken  not  given — The  present  must  be  read 
in  the  light  of  the  past — Slow  development 
is  not  a  sign  of  inferiority — Conflicting  opin- 
ions about  Russia 1 

CHAPTER  II. 

RUSSIA'S  ORIGIN  AND  EARLY  CIVILIZATION. 

Peculiarity  of  Russia's  antecedents — Rurick  and 
the  Yaregs — Expeditions  to  Constantinople — 
Introduction  of  Christianity 17 

CHAPTER  III. 

TARTAR  DOMINATION. 

Partition — Anarchy — Small  Republic s — Gen- 
ghis Khan — The  Greek  Church — Isolation  of 
Russia 27 

CHAPTER  IY. 
THE   GRAND  DUKES  OF  Moscow. 

Dimitri  Donskoi — Overtures  from  Rome — Ivan 
the  Great  and  Ivan  the  Terrible — Autocracy 
a  popular  government 36 


M501587 


VI 

CHEPTEK  Y. 

SERFDOM.  PAGE. 

Origin  and  peculiarities  of  Serfdom  in  Russia — 
Significance  of  the  Emancipation — Impervious- 
ness  to  Nihilism — Peasant  colonization 46 

CHAPTER  VI. 

RUSSIAN  CHARACTERISTICS. 

Topographical  and  climatical  influences — Tran- 
sition State — Democracy  in  Russia — Political 
inaptitude — Patriotism 64 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SLAVOPHILS  AND  OCCIDENTALS. 

Definition — Pan  slavism — The  Mir — The  Zemst- 
vos — Autocracy  plus  autonomy — Apotheosis 
of  the  People 86 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    ROMANOFFS    AND  THE    REVOLUTIONARY 

MOVEMENT. 

German  bureaucracy — National  dualism — The 
Russian  Police — Bakounin  and  Nihilism — 
Atchinoff — The  ideal  side  of  Nihilism — Failure 
and  evil  consequences 102 

CHAPTER  IX. 
RUSSIA  IN  ASIA. 

The  ebb  and  flow  of  Humanity — The  Roman 
Eagle  at  the  gates  of  British  India — Motives 
and  mode  of  Russia's  advance  in  Asia — Her 
policy  and  achievement 129 


Vll 

CHAPTEK  X. 

THE  AFGHAN  QUESTION.  PAGE. 

Ethnical  Side — Pen djeh incident — England's  pol- 
icy— A  possible  casus  belli 149 

CHAPTEK  XI. 

THE  OTTOMAN  TURKS. 

Origin — Fall  of  Constantinople — Decadence  of 
the  Ottoman  Empire — Amalgamation  and  pro- 
gress impossible 158 

CHAPTEK  XII. 

TuRco-Kusso  WARS. 

Russia's  reprisals  against  the  Moslems — Defeat 
of  Peter  the  Great — Victories  of  Catherine  II— 
Treaty  of  Kainardji,  1774— Kevolt  of  the  Ser- 
vians— Massacre  of  1821 170 

CHAPTEK  XIII. 

THE   CRIMEAN  WAR. 

Greek  Independence — Navarino,  1827 — Shop- 
keeper Policy — The  Khedive — Treaty  of 
Adrianople,  1829 — Treaty  of  Unkiar  Skelessi — 
Convention  of  the  Straits,  1841 — Kemote  causes 
of  the  Crimean  War — Napoleon  III — Lord 
Stratford  de  Kedcliffe — Sinope — Treaty  of 
Paris,  1856 178 


Vlll 

CHAPTER  XIY. 

THE  BULGARIAN  WAR.  PAGE. 

The  Situation  re  viewed  by  Gladstone — Schuyler's 
Report — Plewna — San  Stefano  and  the  Berlin 
Conference,  1879 210 

CHAPTER  XV. 

ALEXANDER  THE  THIRD. 

Consolidation  of  the  Russian  Empire — Russian- 
izing of  Russia  begun  by  Nicholas  First — 
Finland  and  the  Baltic  Provinces — The  Jewish 
Question — Russian  Dissenters — G.  Kennan  and 
the  Fourth  International  Prison  Congress 232 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  Triple  Alliance— The  Eastern  Question— The 
future  of  Constantinople — Irretrievable  de- 
composition of  the  Ottoman  Empire 279 


CHAPTEK  I. 


PRELIMINARY    REMARKS. 


When  we  have  reached  the  term  we  are  apt  to  lose 
sight  of  the  starting  point,  the  slow  initiation,  the 
tardy  progress  by  which  we  advanced  to  the  goal. 
Americans,  in  particular,  are  disposed  to  think  that 
any  nation  can,  at  a  given  moment,  draw  up  a  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  and  endow  itself  with  a  free 
Constitution,  like  our  own,  forgetting  that  the  first 
springs  of  this  admirable  mechanism  were  devised  in 
the  Councils  of  the  Witenagamot,  many  hundreds  of 
years  ago,  and  that  the  battles  of  Bunker  Hill  and 
Lexington  began  to  be  fought  on  the  plains  of 
Rimymede. 

"Nations  always  have  the  government  they  deserve." 
In  other  words  they  have  the  form  of  government 
which  comports  witli  their  actual  status,  whether  this 
status  be  the  result  of  uncontrollable  antecedents,  or 
the  expression  of  inherent  and  inalienable  race 
qualities  good  or  bad. 

Lawlessness  arms  the  tyrant,  imbecility  and  incapa- 
city create  despotism.  When  the  leaven  of  civilization 
has  penetrated  the  masses  and  developed  humaneness 
and  individualism,  the  self  recognition  of  personal 
royalty,  tyranny  and  despotism  cease  of  themselves. 

The  social  body  has  outgrown  the  fungus  to  which 
defective  vitality  had  given  rise.  Nations,  as  well  as 


2  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

individuals,  have  their  infancy  and  minority,  and 
during  these  periods  they  are  necessarily  in  leading 
strings.  Madame  de  Stael  asserts  that  "liberty  is 
ancient  in  the  world,  and  that  it  is  despotism  which  is 
new."  Is  this  indeed  so '(  The  most  ancient  form  of 
government,  the  form  which  prevailed  among  nomadic 
and  pastoral  tribes,  was  the  patriarchal  form,  and  in  it 
the  head  of  the  family  was  certainly  a  despot,  though 
a  paternal  one.  He  had  absolute  right  of  life  and 
death  over  his  wife  and  children  and  servants,  who 
belonged  to  him  quite  as  much  as  his  ox  or  his  ass. 

Moreover,  if  we  examine  closely  the  history  of  the 
nations  of  antiquity,  even  that  of  the  so  called 
republics,  we  shall  find  that  they  were  really  under  the 
regimen  of  despotism,  either  military,  oligarchic  or 
senatorial. 

Liberty  can  only  be  the  concomitant  of  advanced 
civilization.  A  French  philosopher,  de  Maistre,  has 
rightly  said  "that  liberties  are  not  given,  they  are 
taken" — and  they  can  only  be  taken  in  communities 
where  civilization  has  developed  the  self  recognition  of 
the  individual. 

The  Hanseatic  Towns,  Novgorod  was  one  of  them, 
were  remarkable  exceptions  to  the  crushing  rule  of 
feudal  despotism  that  prevailed  in  Europe  during  the 
middle  ages.  Commerce  is  the  great  resolvent  of 
barbarism  and  ignorance  and  these  flourishing  com- 
mercial centers,  seem  to  have  stolen  a  march  in 
civilization  on  their  neighbors.  Accordingly  they 
arrogated  the  liberty  of  constituting  themselves  into 
independent  republics,  and  despotic  feudal  lords  were 
forced  to  concede  the  franchises  exacted  by  these  sub- 


PRELIMINARY    REMARKS.  6 

jects.  Unfortunately  for  "my  lord  Novgorod  the 
Great"  political  liberty  degenerated  into  anarchy,  and 
then  the  great  Republic's  doom  was  sealed.  "Some- 
times, writes  Mackenzie  Wallace,  it  was  a  contest 
between  rival  families,  sometimes  it  was  a  struggle 
between  the  municipal  aristocracy  and  the  common 
people  who  wished  to  have  ,a  larger  share  in  the 
government.  A  State  thus  divided  could  not  long 
resist  the  aggressive  tendencies  of  powerful  neighbors, 
Novgorod  must  fall  under  the  yoke  of  the  Lithuanian 
Poles  or  of  the  Muscovite  Princes.  The  great  families 
inclined  to  the  former,  the  clergy  and  the  people  to  the 
latter."  These  internal  causes  of  decadence  seem  to  be 
overlooked  by  writers,  who  see  only  in  the  fallen 
Novgorod,  a  monument  of  Ivan  the  Terrible's 
execrable  barbarity,  when  he  made  a  terrible  example 
of  the  traitorous  citizens  of  Novgorod. 

Russia,  as  it  has  been  presented  to  our  consideration 
by  some  writers,  appears  a  monstrous  anachronism,  and 
her  sovereigns  are  described  as  modern  Neros,  or  little 
better.  The  impartial  mind,  however,  will  iind  in  a 
brief  consideration  of  Russia's  origin  and  early  his- 
tory, the  explanation  of  her  tardy  development ;  for, 
as  Freeman  has  remarked,  "  the  present  will  be  very 
imperfectly  understood,  unless  the  light  of  the  past  is 
brought  to  bear  upon  it." 

Have  we  not  all  seen  unfortunate  creatures  who 
carry  to  the  grave  traces  of  mishaps  that  have  befallen 
their  cradles '?  And  what  are  the  accidents  of  heredity 
but  new  proofs  of  the  necessity  of  reading  the  present 
in  the  light  of  the  past  \ 


4:  SLAY    AND    MOSLEM. 

Moreover,  slow  development  is  the  law  of  certain 
organisms,  and  not  always  of  inferior  ones,  by  any 
means.  The  chicken's  notions  of  perspective  and  dis- 
tance are  as  fully  developed,  the  iirst  day  of  its  ex- 
istence, as  they  are  capable  of  being  developed ; 
whereas,  the  human  animal  blunders  along  in  space  for 
a  long  while,  making  many  painful  experiences  from 
false  perspective,  and  is  many  years  in  acquiring  the 
full  complement  of  his  physical  and  mental  equip- 
ment. It  is  noteworthy,  too,  that  the  children  of 
savages  are  far  more  precocious,  and  arrive  at  matu- 
rity more  rapidly  than  those  of  civilized  races ;  and 
Sir  James  Crichton  Browne  ably  contends  that  the 
higher  the  degree  of  culture  to  be  attained,  the  longer 
must  be  the  process  of  training,  the  more  arduous 
must  be  the  apprenticeship.  When  the  illustrious 
painter  of  the  "  Last  Judgment "  had  reached  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty,  he  drew  a  sketch  of  himself 
in  a  child's  go-cart,  with  this  legend  beneath,  "  ancwa 
impara" — still  he  learns. 

When  we  consider  the  immense  disadvantages  under 
which  Russia  has  labored,  the  crudities  and  the  anom- 
alies of  her  civilization  will  no  longer  surprise  and  shock 
us.  Our  wonder  will  be,  not  that  she  is  behindhand 
in  some  things,  but  that  she  should  already  have  done 
so  much  towards  retrieving  the  past,  and  have  become 
a  leading  factor  in  the  politics  of  Europe,  to-day,  and 
perhaps  the  arbiter  of  its  destinies  in  the  future.  In 
reading  the  story  of  the  past,  we  shall  also  see  that 
Russia's  ambitious  views,  regarding  Constantinople, 
are  by  no  means  of  recent  date. 

"They  have  grown  with  her  growth  and  strength- 


PKELIMINABY    KEMAKKS.  5 

ened  with  her  strength."  There  can  "be  but  little 
doubt  that  she  intends  to  have  no  limits  to  her  em- 
pire than  those  which  bounded  the  empire  of  the  West- 
ern Caesars,  and  the  chances  that  she  will  ultimately 
succeed  are  strong  in  her  favor.  Whether  therein  con- 
sists a  terrible  menace  to  the  world ;  wThether  the  re- 
alization of  her  projects  will  be  the  knell  of  civiliza- 
tion, as  some  writers  seem  to  fear,  is,  to  say  the  least, 
an  open  question. 

Nations  cannot  remain  stationary  on  the  plane  of 
civilization.  When  they  cease  to  advance,  they  retro- 
grade, and  their  decadence  has  already  begun.  Now 
he  who  runs  may  read  that  the  movement  in  Russia 
since  fifty  years  has  been  decidedly  progressive,  and 
any  unprejudiced  observer  must  be  struck  with  the 
advances  she  has  made  in  the  way  of  liberal  reforms 
and  education,  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  arising  from 
the  absolutism  of  the  government  and  many  other 
causes.  "  Ever  since  Peter  the  Great's  appearance 
among  them,  says  Carlyle,  they  have  been  in  steady- 
progress  of  development.  In  our  own  time  they  have 
done  signal  service  to  God  and  man,  in  drilling  into 
order  and  peace  anarchic  population  all  over  their 
side  of  the  world." 

Absolutism,  or  in  other  words  autocracy,  is  a 
natural  and  normal  growth  of  the  Russian  soil, 
as  I  shall  endeavor  to  show  later  on.  It  is 
autocracy,  plus  bureaucracy,  by  no  means  indigenous 
that  constitutes  the  redoubtable  problem  of  Russian 
politics  to-day. 

When  enlightened  well  intentioned  autocrats  have 
sought  to  introduce  ameliorations,  they  have  found 


t)  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

themselves  taken  in  the  toils  that  absolutism  has 
woven  around  them.  All  powerful  when  they  wish 
to  indulge  a  caprice,  their  action  is  singularly  neutral- 
ized in  the  sphere  of  good.  For,  however  paradoxical 
the  assertion  may  appear,  the  supreme  power  is  not  in 
the  hands  of  the  Czar  but  in  the  bureaucracy.  The 
Czar  can  do  nothing  without  them  and  nothing 
against  them,  for  though  imperial  disgrace  may  strike 
individual  members,  it  cannot  strike  the  whole  body 
without  entirely  changing  the  system  of  govern- 
ment. 

Thus  the  instrument  is  stronger  than  the  hand  that 
wields  it,  and  many  good  projects  fail  before  the 
inertia  and  ill-will  of  red  tapeism  opposed  to  progress, 
or  intent  on  self  aggrandisement.  The  guarantee  of 
publicity  not  existing,  the  personal  vigilance  of  the 
sovereign  can  alone  secure  the  execution  of  his  wishes, 
and  in  a  vast  empire  like  Russia,  this  vigilance  cannot 
be  ubiquitous. 

Consequently,  a  great  hiatus  seems,  at  times,  to 
exist  between  the  legislative  and  executive  powers, 
and  disastrous  results  are  produced,  such  as  the  con- 
spiracies of  1825  and  1848,  and  more  recent  out- 
rages perpetrated  by  the  nihilists — then  follows  a  great 
re-action.  The  reprisals  of  autocracy  on  the  one  hand, 
while  on  the  other,  the  nation  sinks  discouraged  into 
oriental  lethargy  and  fatalism,  resigning  itself  to  evils 
which  seem  irremediable.  Autocrats  are  human  after 
all.  They  love  their  lives  as  other  mortals  do,  and 
when  they  are  tracked  down  like  wild  beasts,  because 

t/ 

they  could  not  accomplish  all  the  good  they  desired, 
or  accomplished  it  imperfectly,  we  cannot  wonder,    if 


PRELIMINARY    REMARKS.  7 

to  protect  themselves  they  fall  back  upon  the  means 
devised  by  tyranny. 

These  cowardly  stabs  in  the  dark,  perpetrated  by 
rabid  patriotism,  are  in  themselves  proof,  that  the 
nation  is  still  unfit  for  any  other  form  of  government. 
Can  we  imagine  a  people  redeemed  and  reconstituted 
by  a  band  of  semi-lunatics,  wrecking  trains  and  launch- 
ing bombshells  with  a  grandiloquent  "Sic  semper 
tyrannis  ?" 

Every  one  knows  and  deplores  the  evils  of  the 
present  system  of  administration  and  realizes  more  or 
less  distinctly  that  they  can  only  be  remedied  by  giv- 
ing the  people  a  larger  share  in  the  government,  thus 
throwing  down  the  wall  of  bureaucracy  which  is  inter- 
posed between  them  and  the  Czar,  and  prevents  his 
acquiring  a  true  knowledge  of  their  needs. 

But  the  first  and  most  essential  condition  for  a  rep- 
resentative government  is  the  intelligent  co-operation 
of  the  people,  and  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  this  co- 
operation from  those  who  have  never  heard  political 
questions  discussed  and  have  not  the  remotest  idea  of 
the  intricacies  of  governmental  problems.  Projects  of 
self  government  can  only  be  realized  safely,  and  for 
the  real  good  of  the  masses,  when  education  has  estab- 
lished a  certain  general  level  in  the  nation. 

If  the  assassination  of  Alexander  the  Second  (1881,) 
had  not  prevented  the  promulgation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion with  which  he  was  about  to  endow  the  nation,  it 
is  more  than  probable  that  we  should  have  seen  re- 
peated, on  a  larger  scale,  the  experiences  of  the 
"  Mire." 

In  these  rural    democracies,  whose   assemblies,  like 


8  SLAV   AND   MOSLEM. 

the  American  Town  Meetings,  are  the  original  unit 
and  germ  of  self-government  by  the  people,  sharp 
witted,  ci-devant  serfs,  having  acquired  wealth  and 
learning,  often  used  both  to  the  detriment  of  their 
poor,  benighted  fellow  villagers,  over  whom  they 
tyrannized  to  such  an  extent,  as  office  bearers  of  the 
community,  that  recently,  the  Czar,  urged  by  the 
complaints  of  the  peasants,  has  found  it  expedient  to 
establish  rural  chiefs  of  districts,  chosen  among  the 
landed  gentry.  This  was  a  benevolent  measure,  de- 
vised entirely  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  peasants,  but 
it  has,  of  course,  been  misconstrued  into  an  act  of 
tyranny,  tending  to  destroy  the  ancient  liberties  of  the 
village  communes. 

In  the  course  of  this  work  I  have  endeavored  to 
indicate  some  of  the  causes  that  have  retarded  Russia, 
and  why  the  nation  is  still  in  swaddling  clothes,  or  at 
best,  in  leading  strings.  Until  it  outgrows  them, 
autocracy  must  continue  to  bear  the  unenviable  bur- 
den of  omnipotence  and  unshared  responsibility, 
while  echoing  the  sigh  of  Frederick  the  Great,  who 
exclaimed  towards  the  close  of,  his  long  and  eventful 
reign  :  "  Reigning  over  a  nation  of  slaves  is  a  weari- 
some task  indeed." 

Like  many  strong  personalities,  Russia  has  bitter 
detractors  as  well  as  enthusiastic  admirers,  even  among 
her  own  sons,  for  nowhere  do  we  see  greater  diver- 
gency of  opinion  than  among  Russian  writers  them- 
selves. Foreigners  are  apt  to  judge  superficially  from 
the  limited  point  of  preconceived  notions,  as  time  and 
opportunity  are  often  lacking  for  accurate  observa- 
tion. "When  they  have  seen  St.  Petersburg  and  its 


PRELIMINARY    REMARKS. 


society,  they  flatter  themselves  that  they  know  the 
whole  country,  though  a  Russian  writer  has  pithily 
remarked,  that  St.  Petersburg  was  built  by  Peter  the 
Great,  to  be  a  window  through  which  he  might  look 
out  upon  Europe  ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  a  window 
through  which  strangers  can  examine  Russia,  (Madame 
Novikoff.) 

The  heart  of  this  great  Empire  throbs  in  every  rural 
commune  ;  its  head  is  nowhere,  and  St.  Petersburg 
might  be  swept  away  to-morrow,  without  causing  any 
great  inconvenience  to  the  nation.  Moreover,  travel- 
ers who  hurry  through  the  country  by  steam,  with 
the  purpose  of  "  interviewing  "  it,  are  at  a  greater 
disadvantage  than  ever,  unless  they  happen  to  be 
familiar  with  the  Russian  language,  which  is  now  uni- 
versally used,  even  in  fashionable  circles,  where  French 
was  de  rigueur  some  twenty  years  ago  ;  and  it  is  not 
every  one  who  has  the  frankness  to  say,  as  Mr.  Stead 
does  :  "  I  have  only  been  two  months  in  the  country, 
"  I  cannot  speak  six  words  of  the  language  of  the  peo- 
"  pie.  The  whole  of  my  previous  training,  political, 
"  religious  and  social,  has  been  such  as  to  render  it 
"  difficult  to  occupy  the  standpoint  from  which  these 
"  questions  should  be  judged,  that  is,  from  the  stand- 
"  point  of  the  Russians  themselves." 

Rec'ently  a  Russian  naval  officer  was  forcibly  ejected 
from  the  elevated  cars  in  New  York,  because  on  his 
way  home  from  the  theatre  one  night,  he  had  inno- 
cently lighted  a  cigarette  on  the  platform.  The  out- 
rage on  his  liberty  seemed  so  preposterous  to  him, 
that  on  the  following  day  he  lodged  a  complaint  at 
the  consulat  of  his  country,  and  was,  with  difficulty, 


10  SLAY    AND    MOSLEM. 

made  to  understand  that  the  prohibition  of  smoking 
on  these  platforms  was  a  rule  against  which  no  one 
in  this  free  country  ever  thought  of  rebelling.  Yet 
this  same  Russian  at  home,  probably,  submitted  with- 
out a  second  thought,  to  usages  which  are  constantly 
provoking  indignant  protestations  on  the  part  of  those 
who  visit  Russia. 

This  is  a  trivial  incident,  but  it  shows  how  necessary 
it  is  to  look  at  things  from  the  right  standpoint,  if  we 
would  form  a  just  appreciation.  Anglo-Saxons,  unfor- 
tunately, are  remarkably  incapable  of  measuring  things 
otherwise  .than  by  their  own  ell.  National  preju- 
dice is  one  of  the  strongest  of  passions,  though 
quite  impersonal,  and  no  passion  is  more  blind  and 
more  blinding.  It  leads  men  to  prevaricate  uncon- 
sciously, and  is  generally  accompanied,  moreover, 
by  an  arrogant,  self-complacent  contempt  for  all 
that  does  not  come  up  to  their  own  national  standards. 

Independently,  however,  of  bad  faith,  inadequate 
knowledge,  and  the  desire  to  pander  to  a  morbid  taste 
for  the  sensational,  there  are  several  reasons  for  the 
divergency  of  opinions  that  are  expressed,  and  the  dis- 
crepancy of  statements  that  are  made  regarding 
Russia. 

Not  the  least  important  of  these  reasons  is  the  fact 
that  the  country  is  in  a  state  of  transition,  so  that 
what  may  be  affirmed  truly  one  day  may  be  false  the 
next.  Like  her  frontiers,  Russia's  physiognomy  is 
always  changing,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  delineate  the 
fitful  expressions  of  her  ever  varying  countenance. 

The  most  contradictory  statements  may,  therefore, 
be  equally  true,  in  some  respects,  and  even  while 


PRELIMINARY    REMARKS.  11 

adhering  strictly  to  truth,  the  writer  may  give  an 
entirely  false  impression  to  the  public.  To  do  this, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  separate  the  wheat  from  the 
chaff,  and  present  either  .to  the  exclusion  of  the  other ; 
or,  as  is  often  done,  to  describe  as  actual  and  general, 
what  is  true,  only  of  certain  epochs,  or  certain  indi- 
viduals. Russophobists  of  different  nations  have  ex- 
ploited these  methods  ad  infinitum  in  a  vast  amount 
of  prison  literature  and  Nihilist  martyrology.  Abso- 
lute impartiality  in  the  choice  of  subject  matter,  and 
in  the  manner  of  treating  it,  is,  no  doubt,  a  most  ex- 
ceptional quality,  almost  as  rare  as  the  blossoming  of 
the  century  plant,  But  the  intelligent  reader  can 
always  strike  a  fair  average  by  acquainting  himself,  as 
soon  as  possible,  with  the  bias  of  the  author,  and  theli 
taking  what  he  says  at  a  premium,  or  at  a  discount,  as 
the  case  may  require. 

A  condemned  criminal's  estimate  of  his  judges  can 
hardly  be  considered  a  fair  basis  whereon  to  found 
our  own,  and  it  seems  incomprehensible,  that  men  and 
women  of  no  mean  intelligence  should  be  so  entirely 
guided  in  the  formation  of  their  opinions  regarding 
Russia,  by  the  statements  and  descriptions  of  writers, 
whose  hatred  and  passion  are  patent  to  the  most 
cursory  reader;  men  with  whom  the  mot  d'ordre 
seems  to  be  the  same,  which  Yoltaire  gave  to  his  fol- 
lowers in  the  crusade  against  religion  :  "  Mentez, 
mentez,  sans  cesse,  il  en  restera  tou  jours  quelque  chose:" 
( "  Lie,  lie,  without  ceasing,  something  will  always 
remain.")  Why,  indeed,  should  those  who  resort  to 
dynamite  and  murder  to  forward  their  ends,  scruple 
about  lying  '>  And  as  the  French  philosopher  ob- 


12  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

serv  es :  "  Something  always  remains."  A  bitter 
prejudice  is  created  in  the  minds  of  many  against  a 
country  about  which  they  really  have  no  definite  in- 
formation, and  know  absolutely  nothing  but  what  has 
been  derived  from  the  most  questionable  sources. 
Travelers  who  enter  Russia,  particularly  the  Siberian 
provinces,  with  the  averred  purpose  of  finding  "  black 
spots,"  wherewithal  they  propose  to  feather  their  nests, 
are  apt  to  have  their  vision  obfuscated  by  "  black 
spots,"  like  atrobilious  subject?. 

Nations,  like  individuals,  have  their  family  skele- 
tons, no  doubt.  Every  subject,  too,  has  its  seamy 
side,  though  to  be  always  dwelling  on  it  is  somewhat 
like  constantly  applying  the  lens  and  the  magnifying 
glass  to  the  wart  on  a  great  man's  forehead,  by  way  of 
making  people  acquainted  with  his  character  and 
career,  when  there  are  many  more  desirable  means  of 
informing  the  mind,  which  might  be  employed. 

The  following  passage  is  extracted  verbatim  from 
the  New  York  Times,  (February  14th,  1889,)  and 
refers  to  the  Grammar  School,  No.  9,  West  81st 
street : 

"  The  rooms  for  the  primary  department  are  situ- 
"  ated  on  the  ground,  and  the  floors  are  so  cold  that 
"  the  children  and  the  teachers  suffer  continually  with 
"  aching  feet  and  limbs.  The  largest  room  is  18  by  20, 
"  and  into  this  seventy-five  children  are  crowded.  In 
"  one  of  the  rooms  forty-two  children  are  seated  in  a 
"  space  twelve  feet  square,"  etc. 

We  could  refer  to  similar  and  even  to  more  revolt- 
ing details  regarding  other  public  schools,  prisons  and 
lunatic  asylums  in  some  of  the  richest  cities  of  this 


PRELIMINARY    REMARKS.  13 

great  Republic  ;  and  yet  it  would  hardly  be  fair  for 
foreign  writers  to  take  up  these  texts  and  dilate  upon 
them,  ad  nauseam,  as  if  there  were  no  palliations,  no 
exceptions  which  might  be  alleged. 

Although  the  cases  are  not  exactly  parallel,  the 
treatment  Russia  has  received  at  the  hands  of  some 
English  and  American  writers  is  not  less  unfair.  The 
deplorable  condition  of  some  of  her  prisons,  that  of 
Tinmen  in  particular,  has  been  made  the  subject  of 
minute  description  and  unsparing  animadversion,  while 
of  the  new  and  admirable  establishments  which  have 
been  erected  at  immense  cost,  in  spite  of  straitened 
means,  little  or  nothing  is  said,  or  at  best,  they  are 
sneeringly  referred  to  as  Russia's  "  show  prisons."  Why 
do  not  these  writers,  at  least,  inform  the  public  that  it 
was  the  suppression  of  corporal  punishment  that  led 
to  the  overcrowding  of  prisons  in  Russia,  and  that  if 
the  Russians  were  to  hang  all  their  murderers,  as  is 
generally  done  among  other  nations,  reputed  more 
humane,  the  problem  of  want  of  space  would  be 
greatly  simplified  ? 

Knouting  was  never  as  shocking  to  the  Russian 
mind  as  it  is  to  ours,  albeit  that  whipping  posts  and 
pillories  lingered  in  our  midst  for  a  good  many  cen- 
turies. In  former  days  when  a  man  was  convicted  of 
stealing,  for  instance,  in  Russia,  and  the  local  prison 
happened  to  be  full,  he  received  a  knouting,  supposed 
to  be  commensurate  with  the  oif ense,  and  he  was  forth- 
with dismissed.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  the 
Russians  have  a  Bhudistic  horror  of  taking  life. 
Capital  punishment,  which  was  introduced  by  the 
Tartars  and  adopted  by  the  Grand  Dukes  of  Moscow, 


14  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

is  never  resorted  to  except  in  extreme  cases,  and  the 
power  of  sentencing  to  death  is  the  prerogative  of  the 
Czar,  in  his  quality  of  lieutenant  of  the  divinity.  For, 
notwithstanding,  the  enormity  of  the  anachronism, 
Russia  is  still,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  a  theocracy. 

The  Director  in  Chief  of  the  Russian  prisons  is  as 
humane  and  philanthropic,  as  any  member  of  the 
Howard  Society,  to  which  he  belongs  I  believe,  and  he 
is  doing  his  utmost  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the 
criminal  classes.  Much  more  would  have  been  done 
if  Frank  and  Saxon  had  not  combined  in  the  cause  of 
injustice  and  Moslem  inhumanity,  to  drain  the  coffers 
of  a  nation  who  has  so  freely  poured  forth  her  life 
blood  on  the  altar  of  freedom,  on  behalf  of  oppressed 
fellow  Slavs. 

The  admirable  care  and  humanity  with  which 
steamers  have  been  constructed  for  transporting  con- 
victs from  Odessa  to  Saghalien  can  certainly  compare 
favorably  with  the  manner  in  which  English  and 
French  criminals  were  packed  off  to  Australia  and 
Cayenne,  like  so  much  cargo  or  ballast,  stowed  away 
in  the  holds  of  sailing  vessels.  And  this,  at  a  time, 
when  these  two  nations  were  considered  the  most 
civilized  and  wealthiest  in  the  world,  and  were 
certainly  able  to  afford  better  accommodation  for  trans- 
porting their  unfortunate  condemned  ones  to  the 
penal  settlements. 

Even  figures  and  hard  facts  are  not  all  sufficient  for 
informing  the  mind  correctly,  there  are  many  con- 
comitant circumstances  which  alter  cases,  and  when 
these  are  suppressed,  the  mind  may  be  misled  quite  as 
much  as  if  absolute  deceit  had  been  practised  upon  it. 


PRELIMINARY    REMARKS.  15 

It  is  easy  to  harrow  the  public  mind  with  state- 
ments about  laborers  who  receive  only  a  few  cents  a 
day,  live  on  black  bread  and  cabbage  soup,  breathe 
foul  air  and  so  on  and  so  on.  But  what  if,  owing  to 
secular  habits  and  the  difference  of  monetary  value, 
they  are  no  worse  off  than  English  or  American  wage 
workers  who  starve  and  strike  on  twenty-five  times 
the  amount  ? 

Mr.  George  Kennan,  whose  articles  have  been 
widely  circulated  in  the  Century  Magazine,  has  done 
his  best  to  enlist  the  sympathies  of  the  American 
public  on  behalf  of  the  unfortunate  political  exiles, 
justly  or  unjustly  implicated  in  Nihilistic  outbreaks  but 
he  does  not  remind  his  readers  that  most  of  the  har- 
rowing cases  with  which  he  points  his  articles, 
somewhat  irrelevantly  at  times,  belong  to  periods 
when  Nihilism  was  in  the  heyday  of  its  reign  of 
terror.  When  incendiary  conflagrations,  conspiracies 
and  assasinations  were  of  such  frequent  occurrence, 
that  they  left  little  room  for  considerations  of 
humanity  and  moderation.  Martial  law  prevailed  at 
these  periods ;  conspirators  were  tried  by  military 
tribunals,  as  the  apologists  of  Nihilism  are  themselves 
careful  to  inform  us ;  and  "inter  arma  silent  leges"  is 
a  well  known  axiom. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Lansdell,  who  in  his  extremely  in- 
teresting work,  "Through  Siberia,"  goes  over  the 
same  ground  as  Mr.  Kennan,  and  Harry  de  Windt,  a 
more  recent  traveler,  seem  to  have  seen  things  in  a 
very  different  light,  and  by  no  means  from  the  same 
standpoint.  Nor  do  the  experiences  which  Baron 
Rosen,  a  political  exile,  has  described  in  his  "Con- 


16  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

spirators  in  Siberia,"  seem  to  have  been  at  all  like 
those  of  Herzen,  Dragomonoff  (Stepniak)  and  other 
alleged  eye-witnesses.  Though  of  course  no  one 
would,  for  an  instant,  think  of  impugning  the  veracity 
of  any  of  these  gentlemen. 

The  circumstance  of  time  is  also  an  important  con- 
sideration, which  must  never  be  overlooked  in  speak- 
ing of  Russia,  for  as  we  have  remarked,  what  is  per- 
fectly true  one  day  may  be  equally  false  the  next.  In 
1882  Dostoievski's  "House  of  the  Dead,  or  Ten  Years 
in  Siberia,"  was  published  in  England  and  produced 
a  great  sensation.  No  dates  being  given  in  this  nar- 
rative, which  purports  to  be  the  diary  of  a  convict, 
the  public  were  easily  led  to  believe  that  many  re- 
voting  details,  therein  contained,  were  true  pictures  of 
the  existing  state  of  things  in  Siberia.  Yet  the  fact  is, 
that  Dostoievski  having  been  implicated  in  the  con- 
spiracy of  Petrachevski,  was  banished  to  Siberia  in 
1848,  and  it  is  to  this  distant  period  that  his  narrative 
refers. 

Russia  has  been,  until  recently,  one  century,  at  least, 
behind  hand ;  this  is  an  indisputable  fact,  but  it  is 
equally  true  that  since  fifty  years,  she  has  lived  by 
steam.  Many  a  race  has  been  won  on  the  home 
stretch,  and  it  certainly  looks  as  if  this  might  be  the 
experience  of  the  great  young  empire  of  the  Russiaii- 
Csesars. 


IT 


CHAPTEK  II. 

RUSSIA'S    ORIGIN    AND    EARLY    CIVILIZATION. 


Though  forming  part  of  Europe,  geographically, 
Russia  has  developed  in  conditions,  which  were  in  no- 
wise analogous  to  those  of  other  European  nations. 
Among  these  nations  modern  institutions  are  the  evo- 
lutions of  slowly  matured  germs.  Sublimation,  not 
precipitation,  has  been  the  process  of  their  formation. 
Russia,  unfortunately,  had  no  roots  in  the  past  which 
were  not  torn  up  over  and  over  again ;  no  middle 
ages,  no  middle  classes,  who  are  the  great  strength  of 
a  nation,  and  when  occasion  calls  for  it,  a  powerful 
lever  in  the  hands  of  Reformers.  She  must  hastily 
supplement  the  deficiencies  of  her  early  life,  like  a 
man  suddenly  called  upon  to  play  a  part  for  which 
he  has  received  no  adequate  training.  She  must 
rapidly  adjust  herself  to  the  equipments  of  modern 
civilization,  without  having  undergone  the  apprentice- 
ship of  centuries.  Time,  the  great  educator  of  nations, 
has  been  to  her  but  a  rude  task-master ;  no  painful 
experience  has  been  spared  her,  and  yet  the  deficien- 
cies of  her  education  are  numerous.  During  the  first 
four  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  the  plains  of  Sar- 
matia,  the  site  of  the  future  Russian  Empire,  were 
nothing  but  a  highway  for  the  barbarian  hordes  from 
Asia  and  the  north  of  Europe,  who  deluged  Europe 
and  overthrew  the  Roman  Empire. 

These  ancestors  of  the  nations  of  modern  Europe 
2 


18  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

reaped  many  advantages  from  the  civilization  they  had 
supplanted.  The  Justinian  code  had  already  laid  the 
foundations  of  their  legislation ;  and  Saint  Denys, 
the  Areopogite,  Saint  Irene,  Saint  Pothin  and  other 
missionaries  had  already  evangelized  the  Gauls  and 
the  Britons,  when  some  Slav  tribes  settled  on  the  banks 
of  the  Dneiper,  in  the  basin  of  the  Danube,  and  in 
other  parts  of  Europe.  Many  of  these  Slavs  were,  in 
all  probability,  descended  from  the  Scyths  whom 
Herodotus  described  four  centuries  before  Christ. 

The  early  records  of  the  Western  Slavs  are  neither 
numerous  nor  authentic.  It  is  certain,  however,  that 
they  were  of  Aryan  descent.  Comparative  tables  of 
able  philologists  like  Max  Muller,  prove  that  among 
Indo-European  languages  the  Slavonian  has  the  closest 
resemblance  with  the  Sanskrit ;  indeed,  there  is  less 
difference  between  them  than  there  is  between  an- 
cieiit  and  modern  Greek.  Name  the  Veda  to  a  Russian 
peasant  and  it  will  be  a  familiar  word.  If  he  should 
speak  to  you  of  fire  he  will  use  the  same  word  used 
by  his  ancestors  when  they  worshipped  this  element. 
Fire  was  worshipped  by  the  ancient  Slavs  under  the 
name  of  Ogon  (Ogina  in  the  oblique  case,)  answering 
to  the  Vedic  Ogni,  while  their  principal  divinities  were 
the  Yedic  Veruna  and  Yelos  the  Sun  God.  As  among 
the  Hindoos  of  India,  cremation  was  in  use  among  the 
early  Slavs,  as  well  as  the  Suttee  ;  the  widows  resign- 
ing themselves  to  perish  on  the  funeral  pile  or  in  the 
bark  of  their  defunct  husbands.  An  Arabian  traveler 
in  the  ninth  century  has  left  a  curious  description  of 
the  ceremonies  of  cremation,  as  practiced  among 
the  Slavs.  "While  the  funeral  pile  was  flaming," 


19 


says  the  narrator,  "one  of  them  said  to  me,  "You 
Arabs  are  fools.  You  bury  the  one  you  most  love 
and  he  is  the  prey  of  worms ;  we,  on  the  contrary, 
burn  them  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  that  they  may 
go  to  Paradise  as  quickly  as  possible."  "Many  Russian 
philosophers,  writes  de  Vogue,  profess  the  doctrines 
of  Budha,  and  glory  in  their  Aryan  descent.  "You 
strangers,  they  say,  will  never  understand  the  doctrines 
of  the  old  Aryans ;  you  are  only  their  collaterals,  we 
are  their  lineal  descendants." 

The  origin  of  the  word  Slav  is  very  uncertain,  but 
it  has  given  rise  to  the  words  slave,  esclave,  esclavo, 
schiavo,  owing  to  the  state  of  degradation  to  which 
most  of  the  Slavs  were  reduced  in  Europe.  The 
Western  Slavs,  however,  maintained  their  independ- 
ence and  attained  a  certain  degree  of  civilization. 
Small  townships  arose,  rude  forms  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment were  established,  which  have,  more  or  less, 
survived  the  shocks  of  many  centuries,  and  may  yet  be 
the  "grain  of  mustard  seed"  out  of  which  will  grow  the 
great  tree  of  political  liberty  for  Russia  in  the  future. 
Archaeologists  have  found  in  Russia  a  multitude  of 
monuments  resembling  those  left  by  the  Toltec  races 
in  America,  and  which  Samokvassof  has  shown  to  be 
the  remains  of  the  primitive  cities  (Oppida)  of  the  an- 
cient Slavs.  Excavations  made  among  the  earthen 
outworks  and  the  funeral  mounds  which  surround 
them  have  revealed  potteries,  instruments  of  iron, 
bronze,  gold,  silver  and  glass,  and  pieces  of  Eastern 
•money  bearing  the  date  699.  In  a  vase  discovered  near 
Novgorod  were  found  about  7,000  rubles  worth  of 
these  coins.  The  swords  made  by  the  Slavs  were  re- 


20  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

nowned  in  Arabia  long  before  those  of  Toledo  in 
Spain,  and  Nestor  records,  that  the  Khagars  imposed 
a  tribute  of  swords  on  the  Polians,  a  Slav  tribe  whom 
they  had  subdued. 

But  the  progress  of  this  precocious  civilization  was 
arrested  by  tribal  dissensions,  which  resulted  in  foreign 
intervention.  About  the  year  850  some  Northmen,  call- 
ing themselves  Russes,  or  sons  of  Rurick,  established 
theii-  headquarters  at  Novgorod, — by  right  of  conquest, 
according  to  some,  though  the  generality  of  historians 
say,  that  they  had  been  invited  by  the  Slavs,  who, 
wearied  of  the  state  of  permanent  anarchy  in  which 
they  lived.  "  Let  us  look  for  a  prince  who  will  govern 
with  justice,"  said  the  Slavs  of  Illmen,  worn  out  by 
dissensions  and  civil  wars.  And  then,  says  Nestor, 
the  Tchoudes,  the  Krivitches  and  others  united,  and 
said  to  the  Yareg  princes :  "  Our  country  is  vast,  and 
we  have  all  things  in  abundance,  except  order  and 
justice  ;  come  and  govern  us."  Some  writers  pretend 
that  these  Yaregs  were  Slavs  from  the  Baltic  coast, 
but  the  probabilities  are,  that  they  were  pure  North- 
men or  Scandinavians.  For  about  ten  years  ago 
Samakovossof  opened  an  ancient  tomb,  containing  the 
remains  of  one  of  these  warrior  princes  of  the  tenth 
century,  and  it  was  found,  that  the  coat  of  mail  and 
helmet  were  entirely  similar  to  those  represented  on 
the  famous  tapestries  of  Bayeux,  worked  by  Mathilda, 
wife  of  William  the  Conqueror,  Duke  of  Normandy, 
which  province,  we  know,  was  conquered  and  settled 
by  the  Northmen,  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries. 
If  the  Yaregs  came  as  invited  guests,  their  occupation 
of  the  country  was  very  much  the  same  as  that  of  the 


RUSSIA'S  ORIGIN  AND  EARLY  CIVILIZATION.  21 

Saxons  in  Britain.  The  foundations  of  the  future 
Russian  Empire  were  laid  ;  the  house  of  Rurick  be- 
came the  reigning  house,  and  has  governed  Russia 
ever  since,  the  Romanoffs,  who  ascended  the  throne 
in  1681,  being  descended  from  Rurick  by  the  female 
branch. 

The  Northmen  were  by  no  means  a  pastoral  and 
agricultural  race  like  the  Slavs.  They  were  essentially 
ambitious  and  aggressive,  witness  their  domination  in 
France  and  in  England.  And  though  the  Slavs,  with 
the  remarkable  faculty  of  assimilation  which  still  dis- 
tinguishes them,  absorbed  their  conquerors,  instead  of 
being  absorbed  by  them,  as  the  Britons  were  by  the 
Saxons,  the  infusion  of  this  new  element  gave  a  dif- 
ferent direction  to  their  development.  At  this  early 
period  of  their  history  begins  the  long  series  of 
Russia's  conquests,  which  is  still  far  from  being  closed. 

Having  heard  of  the  beautiful  city  of  the  Caesars 
on  the  Bosphorus,  the  Russes  floated  down  the  Dneiper 
in  their  rude  barks,  nothing  but  the  hollow  trunks  of 
birch  and  oak.  They  took  Kieff  on  the  way,  and 
arrived  at  Constantinople,  where  the  Greeks  and  the 
Emperor  Michael,  "  the  drunkard,"  were  disputing 
about  the  schism  begun  by  the  patriarch  Photius. 
Their  presence  caused  a  panic  almost  as  great  as  that 
which  seized  the  Romans,  when  Attila,  "  the  scourge 
of  God,"  appeared  at  their  gates ;  the  inhabitants  of 
Constantinople  were  fain  to  secure  immunity  by 
bribing  the  barbarians  with  wrine  and  oil,  and  spices 
and  tissues  of  all  kinds.  Meanwhile  a  violent  tempest 
made  havoc  with  the  frail  embarkations  of  the  inva- 
ders, and  they  decamped  in  haste.  The  Byzantine 


22  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

legend  tells  us  that  the  patriarch  Photius  took  the 
"  miraculous  robe  of  our  Lady  of  Blacherun,  plunged  it 
"  into  the  Bosphorus,  and  a  mighty  tempest  arose.'' 

Messudi,  an  Arabian  writer,  thus  records  this  first 
expedition  of  the  Russes  to  Byzance  :  "  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fourth  century  of  the  Hegira  came 
about  500  ships  of  Russians,  each  carrying  a  hundred 
men,  and  ran  into  the  arm  of  the  Mit  (Azof )  which  is 
connected  with  the  Khagars  River.  They  sent  to  the 
king  of  the  Khagars  asking  leave  to  pass  through  his 
land  and  to  sail  down  his  river  into  the  Khagar  Sea, 
in  which  case  they  promised  to  give  him,  on  their  re- 
turn, half  the  booty  they  might  bring  back." 

In  904,  Oleg,  uncle  of  Igor,  made  a  new  expedition 
to  Constantinople.  He  found  the  Bosphorus  de- 
fended, but,  with  the  calm  determination  of  his  race, 
he  was  not  to  be  deterred  by  so  small  an  obstacle.  The 
Russes  shouldered  their  light  canoes,  crossed  the 
isthmus  which  connects  Constantinople  with  the 
mainland,  (as  did  Mahomed  II  some  centuries  later,) 
sailed  up  the  Golden  Horn,  and  suspended  their  shields 
on  the  walls  of  the  Imperial  City.  It  is  said  that  they 
were  an  army  of  80,000,  and  that  their  barks  num- 
bered 20,000.  The  Emperer,  Leon  the  Philosopher, 
whose  philosophy  was  quite  unequal  to  the  emergency, 
hastened  to  treat  with  the  invaders ;  and  the  successor 
of  Constantine  the  Great,  and  a  thousand  C?esars  be- 
came the  tributary  of  a  band  of  pirates. 

The  tribute  was  not  forthcoming  in  season,  it  seems, 
for  in  941,  Igor,  the  Charlemagne  of  Russia,  whose 
exploits  have  been  sung  in  many  popular  ballads,  came 
in  person  to  claim  his  due,  while  Constantine  V II  was 


struggling  against  the  Saracens,  and  endeavoring  to 
repress  the  revolt  of  Lecapemus,  an  ambitious  general. 
The  moment  was  favorable,  and  the  chronicler, 
Nestor,  tells  us  that  "  Igor  would  have  taken  Con- 
stantinople there  and  then,  if  the  elders  of  his  council 
had  not  represented  to  him,  that  their  nation  was  still 
unorganized  and  without  a  stable  government ;  so  that, 
though  they  could  easily  take  and  pillage  Constanti- 
nople, they  were  not  yet  able  to  keep  it."  The  policy 
of  conquerors  has  not  always  been  marked  by  so  much 
prudence,  and  if  this  episode  be  illustrative  of  Russian 
diplomacy,  from  first  to  last,  the  world  may  some  day 
feel  the  preponderance  of  a  nation,  that  matures  its 
projects  with  Oriental  slowness  and  protracted  caution, 
but  never  relinquishes  them. 

The  Emperor  Constantine,  in  Byzantine  fashion, 
offered  the  Russes  money  to  become  his  allies  against 
the  Bulgarians  and  the  Thracians  ;  and  while  they 
were  occupied  in  this  mission,  a  hostile  tribe  of  Slavs 
besieged  Kieff  at  the  instigation  of  the  Greeks.  At 
the  same  time  Jean  Zimices  attacked  them  at  Preslau 
and  Adrianople,  and  the  Russian  invaders  were  forced 
to  evacuate  the  country. 

Even  after  their  conversion  to  Christianity  the  Rus- 
sians continued  to  be  feared  and  distrusted  by  the 
Western  Caesars.  Many  Slav  colonies  remained  estab- 
lished in  Thracia,  the  Peloponnesus  and  Attica,  and 
the  formation  of  a  Slav  confederation  so  near  the  gates 
of  Constantinople,  appeared  to  the  Greek  Emperors, 
as  much  fraught  with  danger  as  the  growing  power  of 
the  Bulgarians  ;  for,  a  prophetic  inscription,  hidden  in 
the  iron  boot  of  an  equestrian  statue,  announced  "  that 


24  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

"  men  from  the  North  would  one  day  take  possession 
"  of  the  capital  of  the  Empire." 

During  her  sojourn  in  Byzance,  (955-973,)  Olga, 
the  mother  of  Sviastolf ,  had  become  a  Christian  with 
some  of  her  household,  but  she  could  not  persuade  her 
sons  to  follow  her  example.  "  My  soldiers  will  turn 
me  into  ridicule,"  objected  Sviastolf.  His  warriors, 
it  is  true,  were,  as  a  rule,  very  ill  disposed  towards  the 
Christian  religion,  and,  like  the  Northmen  in  France, 
they  particularly  enjoyed  pillaging  monasteries  and 
torturing  priests.  Nor  was  the  tendency  of  public 
opinion  as  yet  such  that  the  example  of  the  Chief 
would  be  readily  followed  by  the  people,  as  it  was 
some  years  later. 

It  was  not  till  980  that  diplomacy  moved  the  inert 
conscience  of  thesn  pagans  and  decided  them  to  em- 
brace the  Greek  schism,  after  having  long  remained 
insensible  to  solicitations  from  Roman  Catholics,  Ma- 
hometans and  Jews.  Affinity  of  religion  identifying 
them  with  the  Greeks,  Constantinople  would  more 
easily  accept  their  yoke  when  the  time  came  for  them 
to  supplant  the  Caesars.  Tales  are  told  of  visions  and 
miracles,  but  it  may  safely  be  said  that  it  was  the  prac- 
tical side  of  the  question  which  most  appealed  to  the 
rulers.  Accordingly  baptisms  were  administered 
wholesale  on  the  banks  of  the  Dneiper ;  the  Russes 
followed  the  example  of  their  Grand  Prince  Vladimir, 
and  became  Christians  of  the  Schism  of  Photius,  Pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople  or  Greek  Catholics,  much  as 
the  subjects  of  Clovis,  of  Witikind  and  of  Egbert  be- 
came Roman  Catholics. 

The  conversion  of  the  nation  was  cemented  by  the 


marriage  of  Vladimir  with  Anne,  sister  of  the  Greek 
Emperor,  Basil  II.  This  amiable  princess  exchanged 
the  society  of  a  highly  civilized  court  for  the  semi- 
barbarous  capital  of  the  Russes.  But  she  soon  tf^ns- 
formed  Kief?  into  another  Constantinople,  and  so 
great  was  the  esteem  in  which  she  was  held  that  the 
daughters  of  her  son  Yarsolof  were  sought  in  marriage 
by  Kings  of  Norway,  of  France,  and  of  Poland. 
During  her  reign  pagan  idols  were  destroyed,  Chris- 
tian churches  were  built,  and  learning  and  the  arts  re- 
ceived every  encouragement.  Indeed,  Russia  at  this 
time  was  far  from  being  inferior  to  the  rest  of  Europe. 
But  her  civilization  was  wholly  Oriental,  borrowed 
from  Asia  and  from  Constantinople.  This  civilization, 
too,  was  only  a  phase  in  her  history,  and  it  was  des- 
tined to  be  swept  away  by  the  bitter  waters  of  a  for- 
eign inundation. 

The  Christian  religion  slowly  modified  the  character 
and  customs  of  the  nation,  but  pagan  practices  and 
Christian  dogmas  long  subsisted  side  by  side.  The 
people  clung  tenaciously  to  their  heathen  superstitions, 
and  it  is  even  asked  if  they  do  not  still  survive,  at 
least  in  the  hearts  of  some  of  the  ignorant  peasantry. 
The  establishment  of  Christianity  was  a  pledge  of 
Russia's  admission,  at  some  future  day  into  the  fellow- 
ship of  other  European  nations,  but  the  fact  of 
her  having  received  this  religion  from  schismatic 
Constantinople,  and  not  from  Rome,  placed  Russia, 
for  many  centuries,  outside  the  pale  of  European  civil- 
ization and  progress.  At  the  present  day  it  is  this 
difference  of  creed,  however  slight,  that  divides  Greek 
and  Roman  Catholics  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  and  is 


ZO  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

one  of  the  chief  obstacles  to  the  formation  of  a  great 
Slav  confederation  under  the  hegemony  of  the  Czar. 
If,  on  the  one  hand  schismatic  Russia  was  spared 
the  long  struggles  between  the  secular  power  and  a 
foreign  spiritual  power,  which  mark  the  annals  of 
England,  France  and  the  Germanic  empire  during  the 
middle  ages,  she  also  forfeited  the  material  assistance 
she  would  have  received  in  her  hour  of  need  from  the 
Vatican  and  the  Latin  Christians  against  her  Tartar 
dominators  during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies. 


TARTAR    DOMINATION.  27 


CHAPTER  III. 


TARTAR    DOMINATION. 


Vladimir  established  a  fatal  precedent,  when  he 
divided  the  kingdom  among  his  seven  sons,  and  under 
his  successors  the  power  of  the  throne  was  further 
weakened  by  repeated  partitions  of  the  country 
among  princes  of  the  house  of  Rurick,  each  of  whom 
sought,  like  Vladimir,  to  provide  for  all  his  sons. 

This  unnatural  division  and  subdivision  of  a  country 
possessing  no  natural  barriers,  and  which  was  evidently 
designed  by  nature  to  be  one  united  empire,  led  to  inter- 
minable civil  wars.  According  to  ancient  Slav  custom, 
a  defunct  prince  must  be  succeeded,  not  by  his  son, 
but  by  the  eldest  member  of  his  family,  uncle,  brother, 
or  cousin  ;  the  Byzantine  laws;  on  the  contrary,  which 
had  been  introduced  with  Christianity,  required  that 
the  son,  and  not  the  head  of  the  family,  inherit  from 
his  father.  And  in  consequence  of  the  struggle  be- 
tween the  old  and  the  new  systems,  every  succession 
was  a  disputed  one,  and  gave  rise  to  a  small  War  of 
the  Roses.  From  1054,  death  of  Yarsolof  the  Great, 
Russia's  legislator,  par  excellence,  to  the  Tartar  in- 
vasion, 1224,  Pogodine  enumerates  sixty-four  prin- 
cipalities more  or  less  short-lived,  two  hundred 
and  ninety-three  princes  and  eighty-three  civil  wars. 
Kieff  long  maintained  her  supremacy,  as  the  only 
Grand  Princedom,  but  during  the  Tartar  domination, 


28  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

the   sceptre   passed   to   Sousdalia,  the  future  Grand 
Duchy  of  Moscow. 

In  the  midst  of  the  pele  mele  of  the  civil  wars,  Nov- 
gorod, already  great  by  her  commerce,  established  her 
independence.  The  Novgorodians  only  tolerated  a 
prince,  because  innate  Slav  anarchy  seemed  to  need 
some  such  corrective.  But  at  least,  they  meant  to 
maintain  the  right  of  choosing  their  prince,  and  show- 
ing him  the  door  very  politely  if  he  did  not  strictly 
conform  to  their  many  injunctions,  and  submit  to 
the  restrictions  of  his  very  limited  civil  and  judicial 
powers.  The  figure  of  his  revenues,  and  the  sources 
whence  they  were  to  be  derived,  were  regulated,  and 
he  was  not  allowed  to  acquire  landed  property,  nor 
even  to  hunt  in  the  woods,  nor  reap  his  harvests  except 
at  stated  seasons.  The  office  of  Prince  of  Novgorod 
was  not,  on  the  whole,  a  very  desirable  distinction, 
and  as  may  be  easily  supposed,  it  often  went  begging. 
During  the  seven  years  which  preceded  the  Mongol 
conquest,  not  less  than  five  princes  wrere  deposed  or 
abdicated. 

The  Vetche,  or  governing  Assembly,  was  the  real 
sovereign  of  Novgorod.  Like  the  "  liber um  veto  "  of 
the  Polish  Diet,  the  decisions  of  the  Vetche  always 
required  the  unanimity  of  votes,  and  this  was  obtained, 
if  necessary,  by  throwing  the  minority  into  the  Volk- 
hof.  Sometimes,  too,  an  anti- Vetche  arose,  and  the 
two  Vetches  decided  their  rival  differences  by  a  hand 
to  hand  fight  on  the  bridge,  which  spanned  the  Volk- 
hof.  The  Novgorodians  enjoyed  immunity  from  the 
civil  wars  of  succession,  which  were  always  raging  in 
the"  other  principalities,  but  civic  dissensions  and  the 


TARTAR    DOMINATION.  29 

strife  of  rival  factions  were  endemic  among  them- 
selves, and  led  to  the  fall  of  their  republic,  to 
which  we  have  alluded  elsewhere.  Under  the  protecting 
wing  of  "  My  Lord  Novgorod  the  Great,"  the  republics 
of  Pskof  and  Viatka  were  established,  and  went 
through  similar  experiences  as  the  parent  city ;  they 
were  all  subdued  and  united  under  the  scepter  of  the 
Grand  Dukes  of  Moscow.  A  country  thus  divided 
was  the  self -adjudged  spoil  of  foreign  invaders.  The 
Russians  were  attacked  and  vanquished  by  the  Tar- 
tars on  the  east  and  on  the  south ;  by  the  Poles  and 
Lithuanians  on  the  west  and  on  the  north. 

"  At  this  time,  say  the  Slav  chronicles,  for  the  pun- 
"ishment  of  our  sins,  there  came  some  unknown  peo 
"  pie,  no  one  knew  their  origin  nor  whence  they  came, 
•"  nor  what  religion  they  professed.  God  only  knows, 
"  and  perhaps  the  wise  men  versed  in  book  lore."  Even 
Italy,  France  and  Germany  were  panic-stricken  by  the 
.arrival  of  these  hordes.  Sieur  de  Joinville,  the  chron- 
icler of  the  reign  of  Saint  Louis,  (the  ninth)  thought 
they  were  Gog  and  Magog  of  the  Bible,  who  were  to 
come  at  the  end  of  the  world,  when  anti-Christ  was  to 
•destroy  all  things." 

About  the  year  1224,  Genghis  Khan,  an  Asiatic 
warrior  chief,  succeeded  after  forty  years'  struggle,  in 
imposing  his  authority  on  all  the  semi-barbarous  tribes 
who  belonged  to  the  Mongolian  race,  and  peopled  the 
table  lands  of  Central  Asia,  south  of  the  Altai  Moun- 
tains. He  conquered  Mandchuria,  China,  Turkestan, 
nearly  the  whole  of  Asia,  in  fact,  and  his  empire  was  the 
most  extensive  that  has  ever  existed.  It  was  with  this 
formidable  enemy  that  the  sons  of  Rurick  had  to  con- 


30  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

tend  ;  but  they  were  not  subjugated  without  a  strug- 
gle. They  offered  a  brave  resistance  and  only  suc- 
cumbed at  last,  to  overwhelming  numerical  force. 
One  by  one  the  chief  towns  of  the  south  and  east  were 
taken,  burnt  and  pillaged,  and  the  inhabitants  put  to 
the  sword,  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex.  When  the 
Persian  invaders  sent  word  to  Leonidas  and  his  brave 
companions  to  surrender  their  arms,  "  Come  and  take 
them,"  replied  the  hero  of  Thermopyle.  Not  less 
Spartan  like  was  the  rejoinder  of  the  Princes  of  Mos- 
cow, Riazan,  Mouron  and  Prousk.  "If  you  wish 
peace,  said  the  ambassadors  of  Genghis  Khan,  give  us 
one-tenth  of  all  you  possess."  "  When  we  are  dead, 
was  the  answer,  you  can  take  the  whole."  And  the 
carnage  continued.  "  Russian  heads,  says  the  Chroni- 
cle, were  mowed  down  like  the  grass  of  the  field,  while 
thousands  were  led  away  into  captivity. 

2s  either  Genghis  Khan  nor  his  successors,  proposed 
to  subject  themselves  to  the  inclemencies  of  the  Rus- 
sian climate,  but  they  established  baskakes,  or  receivers 
of  tribute,  in  the  different  provinces,  where  the  extor- 
tions of  these  tax  gatherers  often  drove  the  people  to 
rebellions,  which  were  cruelly  suppressed.  Beside  the 
tribute  money,  the  vanquished  were  bound  to  furnish 
a  military  contingent  to  their  dominators,  and,  in  the 
moral  decadence  which  followed,  it  was  not  unusual  • 
to  see  them  fighting  side  by  side  with  Tartars,  against 
their  own  compatriots.  In  concert  with  them,  An- 
drew, son  of  the  saintly  Alexander  Nevaski,  devastated 
the  provinces  of  Vladimir  and  Sousdalia,  (1281)  and 
in  1327  we  see  the  princes  of  Vladimir  and  Sousdalia, 
helping  the  Tartars  to  sack  and  burn  Tver. 


TARTAR    DOMINATION.  31 

Baty  Khan,  Genghis  Khan's  generalissimo  in  Rus- 
sia, built  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yolga,  Serai,  (Astrakan) 
which  became  the  capital  of  the  Tartars  of  the  Golden 
Horde,  when  they  shook  .off  their  allegiance  to  the 
successors  of  Genghis,  and  established  an  independent 
empire.  Thither  the  Russian  princes  were  forced  to 
repair  to  do  homage  for  their  domains,  and  obtain 
permission  to  govern,  which  they  could  never  do  until 
they  had  received  the  "  iarlik  "  of  investiture.  They 
deemed  themselves  fortunate,  too,  if  they  were  not 
summoned  to  the  court  of  the  Grand  Khan,  at  the 
other  extremity  of  Asia,  and  which  meant  a  journey 
of  two  years,  from  whence  many  never  returned.  The 
Russian  princes  could  not  engage  in  any  war  without 
the  Khan's  permission,  and  when  the  Tartar  ambassa- 
dors brought  them  communications  from  their  foreign 
masters,  they  were  obliged  to  go  on  foot  to  meet  them, 
to  spread  a  precious  carpet  under  the  feet  of  these 
messengers,  and  listen,  on  their  knees,  to  the  reading 
of  the  communication. 

At  the  Court  of  the  Golden  Horde,  the  princes 
grovelled  at  the  feet  of  their  Asiastic  masters,  but 
only  to  crush  down  their  own  subjects  under  the  iron 
heel  of  despotism,  when  they  returned.  As  Karamsin 
justly  observes ;  "  The  liberty  of  a  nation  cannot 
exist  when  their  rulers  are  the  slaves  of  a  foreign 
power."  The  old  landmarks  of  civilization  and  free- 
dom disappeared  one  by  one.  The  Vetches  were 
suppressed  ;  the  people  no  longer  chose  their  civil  and 
military  magistrates  ;  and  indeed,  we  may  say,  that 
every  trace  of  law  and  liberty  was  obliterated.  "  When 
wolves  fight,  sheep  lose  their  wool,"  says  a  Russian 


32  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

proverb,  and  such  has  been  the  experience  of  this 
unfortunate  nation,  in  more  than  one  instance. 

At  the  Court  of  the  Golden  Horde,  the  dissensions 
of  rival  princes  were  arbitrated  by  the  Khans,  and,  by 
dint  of  bribery  and  servility,  the  Grand  Dukes  of 
Moscow  (Sousdalia)  obtained  territorial  supremacy. 
"  The  princes  of  Moscow,  says  Karamsin,  took  the 
humble  title  of  servants  of  the  Khan,  and  thus  they 
became  powerful  monarchs." 

Solovief  pretends  that  the  Tartar  domination  but 
little  affected  the  character  and  development  of  the 
Russians.  However,  I  incline  to  the  judgment  of 
Kostomarof,  Karamsin  and  other  historians,  as  it  seems 
more  reliable  in  this  matter.  These  writers  attribute 
a  considerable  influence  for  evil  to  the  thraldom  of  the 
nation  to  Moslem  masters.  For  more  than  two  cen- 
turies the  Russians  were  crushed  beneath  the  Mongol 
yoke,  the  slaves  of  a  nation  of  slaves  ;  and,  like  all 
nations  subjected  to  ra'ia  domination,  they  still  bear 
the  stigma  of  the  yoke.  Here  the  masses  learnt  the 
uncomplaining  endurance  which  distinguishes  them, 
and  were  schooled  to  a  serfdom  still  more  bitter  which 
awaited  them. 

Here,  too,  were  learnt  those  lessons  of  duplicity,  cru- 
elty, venality  and  corruption,  which  it  is  so  difficult  to 
unlearn.  Nor  was  this  all.  There  was  a  considerable 
infusion  of  Tartar  blood  into  the  native  race,  among 
the  upper  classes  chiefly,  perpetuating  the  evils  of  per- 
nicious examples,  and  naturalizing  the  vices  of  these 
barbarians,  who  arrived  Pagans,  but  soon  became 
fervent  Moslems.  Boris  Godonof,  whose  name  was 
accursed  by  many  generations  of  Moujiks,  was  of 
Tartar  origin. 


TARTAR    DOMINATION.  33 

During  this  period,  the  National  Church  acquired 
immense  power  and  wealth.  The  Khans,  recognizing 
the  influence  of  the  clergy  over  the  people,  sought  to 
ingratiate  themselves  with  the  former,  by  according 
them  many  privileges  and  immunities,  while  the  people, 
seeing  the  favor  enjoyed  by  their  spiritual  leaders  with 
their  common  masters,  sought  the  protection  and 
patronage  of  the  clergy  by  gifts  and  services.  The 
wealthy  classes  meanwhile,  thought  they  could  not 
better  employ  their  riches  than  by  endowing  churches 
and  monasteries,  as  was  the  case  at  the  time  of  the 
"  religious  terror"  of  the  milleiiium  in  France  and 
Germany  during  the  Middle  Ages.  It  is  just,  howT- 
ever,  to  recognize  that  the  clergy  of  the  Greek  Church 
in  Russia  always  employed  their  influence  and  ascen- 
dency on  behalf  of  their  countrymen,  and  that  they 
were  unremitting  in  their  efforts  to  keep  alive  the 
smouldering  flame  of  hope  and  patriotism  in  the  hearts 
of  prince  and  people. 

When  the  Grand  Duke,  Dimitri  Donskoi  faltered 
in  his  perilous  enterprise  of  expelling  the  Tartars 
from  the  basin  of  the  Don,  it  wyas  the  clergy  who 
urged  him  on  to  victory  by  every  argument  that 
heaven  and  earth  could  furnish.  In  1612,  in  1812,  in 
every  solemn  hour  of  great  national  peril,  and  for 
Russia  there  have  been  many,  the  clergy  have  always 
been  foremost  in  courage  and  patriotism. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  indestructible  bonds  were 
established  between  the  Russian  people  and  their 
church ;  that  Orthodoxy  is  for  the  masses,  another 
name  for  Fatherland,  hearth  and  home,  and  that 
Orthodoxy,  this  synonym  for  the  Greco-Russian  Church 
3 


34  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

still  appeals  so  strongly  to  the  hearts  of  all  Russians, 
even  of  those  penetrated  by  the  leaven  of  Western 
free-thinking. 

During  the  dark  centuries  of  Moslem  domination 
the  National  Church  was  in  Russia,  as  in  the  whole 
Balkan  Peninsula,  the  supreme  bond  of  union  that 
held  together  the  scattered  and  demoralized  victims  of 
alien  oppression.  "Do  not  laugh  too  much,"  said  an 
Athenian  of  culture  arid  good  sense,  to  Mr.  Des- 
champs,  author  of  "  La  Grece  d'au  jourd'hui,"  at  our 
trivial  forms  of  worship,  our  "ignorant  pappas,  and 
"  our  lazy  and  dirty  monks.  We  love  our  religion  as 
"  it  is.  The  Greek  people  has  been  preserved  in  that 
"  religion  as  tish  is  preserved  in  salt." 

The  Mongol  domination  entirely  separated  Russia 
from  all  communication  with  the  other  European  na- 
tions, and  in  this  respect  these  centuries  of  Tartar 
domination  followed  as  they  were  by  Polish  invasions 
and  the  institution  of  serfdom,  immeasurably  retarded 
the  progress  of  Russia.  Her  only  participation  in 
European  civilization  during  the  middle  ages,  had 
been  through  the  medium  of  Byzantium  in  decay ;  and 
even  the  meager  stream  which  used  to  flow  in  from 
Constantinople  was  cut  off  when  this  city  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Turks  (1453). 

While  Russia  was  struggling  to  shake  off  the  yoke 
of  her  Tartar  dominators  and  then  reducing  her  own 
sons  to  bondage,  the  aurora  of  a  new  civilization  was 
dawning  for  Europe.  Chaucer  wrote  his  Tales,  Spencer 
sang  his  Fairy  Queen,  and  were  followed  by  a  galaxy  of 
poets  and  prose  writers,  who  lent  lustre  to  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  whom  Ivan  IV  sought  in  marriage.  The 


TARTAR    DOMINATION.  35 

invention  of  printing,  the  discovery  of  America,  the 
reformation  of  Luther,  and  many  othe**  causes,  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  learning,  art  and  literature  in  Western 
Europe.  But  no  ray  of  the  great  day  of  the  Renaissance 
penetrated  into  Russia. 


36  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

CHAPTER  IY. 
• 

THE  GRAND  DUKES  OF  MOSCOW. 


Patriotism  at  least  was  not  entirely  destroyed  amid 
the  general  demoralization  of  the  nation.  Many  efforts 
were  made  to  throw  off  the  foreign  yoke,  but  they 
only  resulted  in  greater  oppression. 

However,  the  vast  empire  of  Genghis  Khan  was  in 
its  turn  undergoing  the  process  of  disintegration,  and 
the  Grand  Duke  Dimitri  Donskoi,  taking  advantage 
of  the  internal  dissensions  among  the  Tartars,  assem- 
bled the  forces  of  the  Russian  nation  and  defeated  the 
enemy  in  several  battles,  expulsing  them  from  the 
basin  of  the  Don. 

Dimitri,. though  not  naturally  inhumane,  established 
corporal  and  capital  punishment  as  means  of  repress- 
ing anarchy  and  brigandage  and  maintaining  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  absolute  power.  However  odious  in 
itself  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the  chaotic  condi- 
tion of  affairs  which  then  existed,  no  milder  form  of 
government  could  have  reconstituted  a  half  civilized 
nation  on  the  verge  of  dissolution.  The  history  of  the 
Grand  Duchy  of  Moscow^,  the  nucleus  of  the  future 
Russian  Empire,  commences,  so  to  speak,  at  this  period. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Tamer- 
lane restored  the  fortunes  of  the  Tartar  empire.  He 
reconquered  the  nations  over  whom  Genghis  Khan 
had  reigned,  and  restored  the  Mogul  domination  iii 


THE  GRAND  DUKES  OF  MOSCOW.  37 

Russia,  devastating  the  City  of  Moscow  in  person  at 
the  head  of  a  wild  horde  from  the  plains  of  Asia. 

It  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Ivan  III  (the  Great) 
1462 — 1505 — that  the  Tartars  were  again  repulsed, 
and  the  Crescent  slowly  receded  from  Russian  territory. 
Several  feudal  principalities  were  also  united  under 
his  scepter,  and  Ivan  became  the  prototype  of  the 
future  autocrats  of  Russia. 

In  1453,  the  Turks  under  Mahomed  II  conquered 
the  Byzantine  capital  and  established  their  long 
domination  in-  the  city  of  the  western  Csesars,  the 
Tzaragrad,  so  coveted  by  the  sons  of  Rurick.  Pre- 
vious to  this  event,  Jean  Palgeologus  one  of  the  last 
Greek  emperors  of  Constantinople  desiring  the  help 
of  the  Latins  against  the  Turks,  had  become  reconciled 
with  Rome,  at  the  Council  of  Florence,  1436,  where 
the  Credo  was  sung  for  the  last  time  in  unanimity  by 
the  Greek  and  Latin  churches.  The  patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople made  Isidore,  a  friend  of  the  Pope,  metro- 
politan of  Moscow.  But  when  the  latter  read  the 
act  of  union  and  prayed  for  his  Holiness  at  the  Krem- 
lin, an  ominous  silence  reigned,  broken  only  by  the 
Grand  Duke  Vasili,  who  like  a  true  descendant  of  the 
Greek  emperors,  began  a  theological  discussion  with 
the  prelate,  and  ordered  that  a  council  of  bishops  and 
boyars  should  examine  the  act  of  union.  It  was  re- 
jected, and  the  metropolitan  Isidore  was  imprisoned 
in  a  convent  whence  he  escaped  to  Rome,  where  he 
was  made  a  Cardinal.  "He  had  gone  to  his  Pope,  led 
to  his  destruction  by  the  devil,"  said  the  schismatics. 

Notwithstanding  this  defeat,  Pope  Paul  III,  know- 
ing that  Ivan  had  revived  the  ambitious  projects  of 


38  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Ids  predecessors,  which  had  necessarily  been  in  abey- 
ance during  the  Tartar  domination,  and  that  he  was 
forming  designs  on  Constantinople,  offered  him  the 
hand  of  Maria  Palgeologus,  daughter  of  Thomas  Pal- 
seologus,  and  niece  and  heiress  of  the  last  Greek  Em- 
peror, Constantine  Dragases.  The  princess  (Sophia) 
had  abjured  the  Greek  schism  at  Rome,  taking  the 
name  of  Maria  at  her  baptism,  and  the  Pope  thought 
that  by  this  alliance  he  would  accomplish  a  double 
purpose,  expulse  the  iniidels  from  Constantinople,  and 
bring  about  the  conversion  of  Ivan,  who  had  become 
the  supporter  and  chief  of  the  Greek  schism,  since  the 
fall  of  the  Imperial  City. 

Ivan  was  as  obdurate  as  his  predecessors  in  reject- 
ing all  overtures  of  union  with  Rome,  but  he  willingly 
espoused  the  Princess  Sophia  and  her  rights'  to  the 
Byzantine  throne.  "It  was  God  Himself,  he  said, 
"  who  had  sent  him  this  offshoot  of  the  imperial  tree, 
"  which  formerly  covered  all  orthodox  Christendom 
"  with  its  shadow."  To  this  Greek  Princess,  whose 
family  had  so  recently  been  dethroned  by  the  Turks, 
vassalage  to  the  Tartars  seemed  far  more  intolerable 
than  it  did  to  Russians,  accustomed  to  the  foreign  yoke; 
and  she  continually  urged  Ivan  to  destroy  the  Moslem 
power.  "How  much  longer  am  I  to  be  the  vassal  of 
the  Khan?"  was  her  oft  repeated  complaint.  Sophia 
Palaeologus  did  for  Moscow,  what  Anne,  sister  of  the 
Emperor  Basil  II  had  done  for  Kieff.  By  the  fall  of 
Constantinople,  Moscow  became  the  metropolis  of  or- 
thodoxy, and  on  her,  too,  devolved  henceforth  the  duty 
of  protecting  the  Eastern  Christians,  and  avenging 
the  catastrophe  of  1453,  against  Islam. 


THE  GRAND  DUKES  OF  MOSCOW.          39 

In  1472  Ivan  assumed  the  arms  of  the  Greek  em- 
pire, the  black  eagle  with  two  heads,  together  with  the 
title  of  Tzar  or  Caesar,  and  when  he  sent  an  ambas- 
sador to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  commerce  with  the 
Sultan,  he  forbade  his  envoy  to  bend  the  knee  in  the 
presence  of  the  Moslem  potentate.  Pletscheff;  another 
envoy  e,  even  refused  to  dine  with  the  Sultan,  saying 
that  "he  would  not  sit  at  the  table  of  the  oppressor  of 
his  brethren."  Exiled  and  fugitive  Greeks  .were 
warmly  welcomed  at  Moscow,  particularly  men  of 
learning  like  Theodore  Lascaris,  his  son  Demetrius, 
and  Fioraventi  Aristote,  who  was  for  Ivan  III  what 
Lefort  was  to  Peter  the  Great — architect,  engineer 
and  artilleryman.  The  Greek  calendar  and  alphabet 
were  adopted,  Greek  manners  and  customs  prevailed. 
Such  was  the  policy  of  the  Grand  Dukes,  one  well 
calculated  to  pave  their  way  to  the  throne  of  the 
Caesars  of  Constantinople,  when  the  favorable  moment 
should  arrive  to  enforce  their  claims. 

The  defeat  of  the  Tartars,  the  conquest  of  Kazan 
and  Astrakhan,  and  the  reunion  of  several  republics 
and  feudal  principalities  had  given  to  the  Grand 
Dukes  the  basin  of  the  Don  and  of  the  Volga  ;  but 
they  had  nothing  west  of  the  Dneiper.  Alexander, 
Duke  of  Lithuania  and  King  of  Poland,  ruled  at 
Kieif  and  Smolensk,  while  Livonia  Courland  and  the 
whole  coast  of  the  Baltic  were  held  by  the  Knights  of 
the  Sword,  a  branch  of  the  Teutonic  Order,  whose 
Grand  Master,  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  became 
King  of  Prussia  towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

In   1491  Maxamillian,  Emperor   of  Austria,  recog- 


,40  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

nizecl  Ivan  II  as  Czar  of  Russia,  and  made  with  him  the 
treaty  of  Nuremberg,  by  which  Austria  engaged  to 
help  Russia  against  the  Poles  and  Lithuanians,  on  con- 
dition that  Ivan  should  help  Austria  to  conquer  Hun- 
gary. It  was  the  first  time  that  the  descendants  'of 
Rurick  were  admitted  into  European  politics.  About 
a  century  later  Ivan  IY  (the  Terrible,)  having  been 
defeated  by  Stephen  Bartori,  King  of  Poland,  sought 
to  obtain  a  favorable  treaty  by  the  intervention  of  the 
Pope.  The  all  powerful  Jesuits  had  brought  about  a 
"Holy  League"  among  Catholic  sovereigns  for  the 
maintenance  of  religious  unity  in  Europe,  and  the 
opportunity  again  seemed  favorable  for  terminating 
the  Greek  schism.  Pope  Gregory  XIII  sent  Father 
Possevino,  a  famous  Italian  diplomatist,  to  negotiate 
the  treaty  of  Kiverova  Horka.  Ivan  was  delighted, 
but  remained  inaccessible  to  overtures  of  union  with 
Rome.  The  following  passage  from  "Moscovia  del 
Possevino,"  gives  an  idea  of  the  pretensions  of  Russia 
at  this  epoch  of  her  history  : 

•'This  Jean  or  Ivan,  besides  the  titles  of  King  of 
Astrakhan  and  Kazan,  has  thought  fit  to  call  himself 
Emperor  of  Germany  in  writing  to  the  Sultan,  under 
pretext  that  he  is  a  descendant  of  Augustus  Caesar, 
who  used  to  call  himself  the  "Prussian."  It  is  easy 
to  see  what  is  in  his  mind  regarding  the  confines  of 
Germany  and  of  Europe.  He  thinks  that  all  the 
Catholics  whom  he  calls  "Romans"  will  soon  be  here- 
tics, and  that  it  will  be  easy  for  him  to  subjugate  them 
and  open  the  way  to  the  conquest  of  all  the  rest." 

Ivan  the  Terrible  refused  all  recognition  of  the 
King  of  Sweden,  saying,  "  that  it  was  not  suitable 


THE    GRAND    DUKES    OF   MOSCOW.  41 

"  that  he,  a  descendant  of  the  Caesars,  should  treat 
"  with  an  elected  King  of  obscure  birth,  but  that  the 
"  latter  might  confer  with  the  Governor  of  Moscow, 
"  if  necessary.  " 

Ivan's  cruelty  was  as  great  as  his  ambition.  During 
the  latter  part  of  his  reign,  Russia  was  steeped  in 
blood,  and  stories  of  his  maniacal  furies  are  among  the 
facts  of  Russian  history  with  which  foreigners  are 
best  acquainted.  He  was  a  Henry  VIII  broken  away 
from  the  restraints  of  the  Magna  Charta  and  let  loose 
upon  a  country  accustomed  to  be  trodden  upon. 

Nevertheless,  if  we  would  judge  these  "  Great" 
and  "  Terrible"  Muscovites  aright,  we  must  do,  what 
people  often  forget  to  do  ;  we  must  recall  the  century 
to  which  they  belonged,  and  the  men  and  women  it 
has  produced,  of  purpose  so  stern,  of  sueh  unflinching 
and  remorseless  determination,  that  they  might  almost 
serve  as  foils  to  Ivan  the  Terrible  himself.  It  was 
the  century  of  Louis  the  Eleventh,  of  Catherine  de 
Medici,  of  Torquemada,  of  the  "  She  Wolf  of  France." 

If  their  "  evil  manners  live  in  brass,"  the  work 
accomplished  by  these  two  sovereigns  was  certainly 
not  "  written  in  water."  And  so  Titan  was  their  task, 
that  it  is  probable  that  no  finer  instruments  or  gentler 
means  than  those  which  they  employed  would  have 
been  adequate  to  the  difficulties  of  the  undertaking. 
Ivan  the  Great,  and  Ivan  the  Terrible,  did  for  Russia 
what  Louis  the  Eleventh  did  for  France.  They 
crushed  the  power  of  the  great  nobles,  whose  rival 
dissensions  kept  the  country  in  a  perpetual  state  of 
civil  war ;  and  they  prepared  the  way  for  national 
unity  by  conquest  and  by  annexation.  For  Russia, 


42  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

even  more  than  for  France,  this  unity  was  a  sine  qua 
non  of  existence  and  development,  the  country  being 
evidently  destined  by  nature  to  be  the  seat  of  one  vast 
empire.  There  exists  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
different  regions  a  mutual  dependence  which  cannot 
be  evaded.  The  regions  of  the  forests  must  have  the 
cereals  and  the  animals  of  the  arable  steppes,  and 
these  fertile  steppes  of  the  South  are  in  equal  need  of 
the  timber  from  the  North.  The  commerce  of  the 
Dwina  and  the  Neva  would  be  crippled  without  the 
co-operation  of  the  Dneiper  and  the  Volga. 

By  substituting  autocracy  to  oligarchic  despotism, 
Ivan  III  and  Ivan  IV  saved  Russia  from  aristocratic 
oppression  and  anarchy,  which  ruined  Poland,  and  led 
to  her  final  dismemberment.  Muscovite  autocracy 
created  the  Empire  of  the  Czars,  and  was  itself  a  natu- 
ral growth  of  Russian  soil.  Long  before  the  advent 
of  Rurick,  the  stern  rigors  of  their  physical  condi- 
tion rendered  the  Russians  forcibly  gregarious,  and 
necessitated  the  patriarchal  despotism  of  the  family, 
of  which  the  absolutism  of  the  Mir  was  only  an  ex- 
tended form,  and  autocracy  the  final  evolution. 

The  independent  life  of  the  American  squatter  and 
backwoodsman  would  in  all  times  have  been  imprac- 
ticable in  Russia,  where  the  urgent  need  of  the  strength 
which  comes  from  union  was  so  keenly  felt  by  all,  that 
they  unhesitatingly  laid  aside  personal  interests,  never 
questioning  the  law,  which  requires  that  in  all  socie- 
ties the  individual  good  be  made  subservient  to  the 
general  weal  of  the  community.  This  unlimited 
capacity  for  self-sacrifice  which  still  characterizes  the 
great  Russians,  and  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  second 


THE  GRAND  DUKES  OF  MOSCOW.  43 

nature  with  them,  is  a  factor  of  considerable  impor- 
tance which  must  never  be  overlooked  by  those  who 
would  cast  the  horoscope  of  the  Slav  Empire.  For, 
universal  history  teaches  us  that  self-seeking,  the  pur- 
suit of  personal  aggrandizement,  the  race  for  filthy 
lucre,  and  a  complete  indifference  for  the  weal  of  the 
community  at  large,  are  the  causes  and  the  precursors 
of  the  decadence  of  nations. 

When,  to  the  rigors  of  a  pitiless  nature,  were  added 
the  miseries  of  Moslem  domination,  and  the  perils  of 
aggressive  wars  on  the  part  of  European  neighbors,  it 
is  easy  to  understand  what  vast  proportions  this  senti- 
ment of  individual  abnegation  acquired,  and  how  it 
disposed  the  people,  not  only  to  submit  to  the  des- 
potism of  the  Mirs,  (village  assemblies  of  self-govern- 
ment,) and  to  the  patriarchal  discipline  of  the  family, 
as  it  existed  until  recent  years,  but  also  to  accept,  nay 
to  create  an  official  autocracy,  or  State  despotism  strong 
enough  to  deliver  them  from  the  Moslem  yoke,  and 
from  the  Poles  and  Swedes  ;  capable,  too,  of  gathering 
together  the  fragments  of  national  existence,  and 
cementing  the  foundations  of  a  great  Empire. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  autocrats  are  truly  the  man- 
dataries of  the  people,  and  the  powerful  progressive 
Russian  Empire  of  to-day,  bears  testimony  to  the 
fidelity  with  which  they  accomplished  their  mandate. 

Autocracy,  therefore,  is  by  no  means  the  anomalous 
tyranny  that  it  is  misrepresented  to  be.  It  is  essen- 
tially a  popular  government.  I  do  not  mean  a  gov- 
ernment in  which  "  every  man  has  his  say,"  according 
to  Mark  Twain's  definition  ;  I  use  the  word  popular 
in  its  general  acceptance.  And,  we  must  also  bear  in 


44  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

mind,  that  when  the  direct  line  of  Rurick  became  ex- 
tinct, Prince  Michael,  the  founder  of  the  present 
House  of  Romanoff,  was,  literally,  called  to  the  throne 
by  popular  acclamation,  on  the  market  place. 

When  political  agitators  devise  a  scheme  for  over- 
turning existing  institutions,  and  establishing  a  new 
form  of  government,  their  idea  or  concept,  is,  so  to 
say,  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  people.  If  it  is 
blackballed  by  them,  the  agitation  is  called  a  rebellion 
and  the  agitators  pay  the  penalty.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
the  idea,  or  concept  obtains  the  consensus  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  agitation  rises  to  the  dignity  of  a  revolu- 
tion, and  the  agitators  become  the  rulers.  In  1825, 
in  1848,  and  in  1881,  the  idea  of  would-be  revolution- 
ists was  submitted  for  popular  approval,  and  was  most 
decidedly  blackballed. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  if  a  plebiscite  were 
taken  to-day,  two-thirds  of  the  people  would  vote  for 
the  Czar.  The  rural  millions  are,  according  to  Mr. 
Dragamonof ,  (Stepniak)  too  besotted  to  be  roused  into 
rebellion.  "  What  can  you  do  with  a  people  whose 
"  greatest  preoccupation  is  whether  the  sign  of  the 
"  cross  should  be  made  with  three  fingers  or  with 
"  two  ?" — he  exclaims  with  disgust ;  while  elsewhere 
he  writes :  "Our  writers  and  publicists  are  too  lacking  in 
"  political  training  to  make  the  attempt  to  re-organize 
"our  political  regime."  (P.  3736,  Russia  under  the  Czars.) 

Now,  be  the  cause  stupidity  or  whatever  it  may,  the 
Radicals  and  Nihilists  of  Russia,  by  their  own  admis- 
sion, have  never  succeeded  in  gaining  the  adhesion  of 
the  people,  and  until  they  do  so,  I  maintain  that  Auto- 
cracy is  a  popular  government  in  Russia. 


THE    GRAND    DUKES    OF    MOSCOW.  45 

It  may  riot  be  to  the  taste  of  Mr.  George  Kennan 
nor  to  that  of  Mr.  Dragamonof  and  other  members  of 
the  "  intelligencia,"  as  that  class  is  called  to  which  cul- 
tured perturbators  of  the.  peace  like  him  belong.  But 
governments  exist  for  the  masses  and  should  be 
adapted  to  the  requirements  of  the  great  majority  of 
the  nation,  and  not  to  the  liking  of  these  distinguished 
individuals,  who  are,  no  doubt,  a  law  unto  themselves. 

~Not  only  is  autocracy  a  popular  government,  but  it 
is  also  the  government  the  best  suited  to  the  actual 
needs  of  the  people,  with  their  inherent  race  qualities, 
and  in  conditions  which  have  been  induced  by  uncon- 
trollable antecedents.  Freely  then,  do  I  bear  my  share 
of  Mr.  Dragamonof  s  contempt  for  "  the  blindnesss  of 
"  certain  writers,  who  contend  that  Russia  is  still  un- 
"  fitted  to  be  her  own  mistress."  (P.  333,  Russia  un- 
der the  Czars  "  Stepniak.") 

If,  what  are  commonly  called  political  liberties, 
developed  so  rapidly  in  England,  it  was  probably  due 
in  a  great  measure,  to  more  facile  physical  conditions, 
and  to  comparative  immunity  from  foreign  aggression, 
which  their  insular  position  afforded.  And  even  with 
these  advantages,  how  many  centuries  elapsed  before 
the  complete  affranchisement  of  the  nation  was  ef- 
fected ?  The  able  historian  of  "  The  English  People," 
(Greene,)  repudiates  this  theory,  which  is,  perhaps, 
somewhat  fatalistic ;  but  there  may  be  a  medium  be- 
tween according  too  much  to  physical  environment  and 
wholly  denying  its  importance,  as  a  factor,  in  the  for- 
mation and  development  of  national  institutions,  his- 
tory and  character. 


46  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

CHAPTER  Y. 

SERFDOM. 


Delivered  from  a  foreign  yoke,  reconstituted  as  a 
nation,  endowed  with  some  of  the  inventions  of  mod- 
ern progress,  Russia  began  to  occupy  a  position  by  no 
means  inferior,  among  the  nations  of  Europe.  But 
her  progress  was  soon  brought  to  a  stand  still  again  ; 
this  time,  by  internal  causes. 

Feodor,  son  of  Ivan  the  Terrible,  was  incompetent, 
and  his  brother-in-law,  Boris  Godonof,  ruled  during 
his  life-time,  and,  at  his  death,^  usurped  the  throne, 
after  having  assassinated  the  rightful  heirx  y 


In  1593,  Boris,  by  a  stroke  of  his  pen,  decreed  the 
thraldom  of  the  masses,  though  it  is  probable  that  he 
did  not  himself  foresee  the  extent  of  the  evils  he  was 
entailing  on  Russia.  Some  writers  say  he  was  forced 
to  take  this  measure,  in  order  to  prevent  the  emigration, 
en  masse,  of  the  peasants,  to  the  newly  conquered  fer- 
tile Provinces  of  the  South,  as  it  was  depopulating 
the  environs  of  Moscow.  There  may  be  some  truth  in 
this  statement,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  also 
actuated  by  motives  of  self-interest,  and  sought  to  for- 
tify himself  on  the  throne  he  had  usurped,  by  ingra- 
tiating himself  with  the  landed  proprietors,  who  were 
then  the  mainstay  of  the  army,  and  to  whom  this 
measure  was  very  acceptable.  Serfdom  in  some  form 
is  as  old  as  the  world,  and  it  persisted  in  Europe  long 


SERFDOM.  47 

after  the  introduction  of  Christianity.  Monastic  insti- 
tutions which  spread  so  rapidly  during  the  Middle 
Ages,  were  but  a  form  of  serfdom,  ennobled  by  re- 
ligion ;  a  means  of  enchaining  the  human  will  without 
degrading  the  individual.  The  inhabitants  of  these 
monasteries — and  their  number  was  legion — could 
neither  inherit  nor  bequeath,  and,  as  regards  the  exer- 
cise of  any  of  the  functions  of  a  citizen,  their  condition 
was  exactly  the  same  as  that  of  the  serf.  This  system 
of  "  civil  death,"  as  it  was  called,  was  abolished  by 
the  French  revolution  of  1799.  But  serfdom  had 
ceased  in  France  and  in  England,  with  the  decline  of 
the  Feudal  System.  In  Prussia  it  was  not  abolished 
until  1835  ;  and  it  will  be  remembered  that  the  Elec- 
tor of  Hesse  Cassel  sold  many  of  his  serfs  to  England, 
to  reinforce  her  armies  during  the  American  war  of 
Independence. 

The  ancient  Russian  legislature  recognized  two 
classes  of  domestics.  Firstly,  domestics  or  serfs  by 
contract,  who  sold  themselves  to  a  master  for  a  term 
of  years,  or  for  his  life-time.  Secondly,  complete 
domestics  or  serfs.  The  latter  class  was  composed  ex- 
clusively of  prisoners  of  war.  Even  these  could  not 
be  sold  if  they  were  Christians,  and  domestics  or  serfs 
of  both  classes  became  free  at  the  death  of  the  master. 
The  fatal  law  of  Boris  did  not,  however,  constitute 
slavery  as  it  existed  in  1860.  It  only  reduced  the 
peasants  to  the  condition  of  the  "  glebse  adscript!  "  of 
the  Feudal  System.  They  and  their  descendants  were 
chained  to  the  soil,  on  which  they  happened  to  be  at 
the  time  of  the  promulgation  of  the  decree.  The  prac- 
tice of  buying  and  selling  slaves  individually,  was  an 


48  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

abuse  which  established  itself  imperceptibly.  The 
law  of  1593  expressly  forbidding  the  selling  or  even 
the  bequeathing  of  peasants,  without  the  land,  or  of 
the  land  without  the  peasants.  For  a  long  time  evaders 
of  the  law  took  the  precaution  of  selling  an  acre  or 
two  of  land  with  the  peasant ;  but,  in  the  course  of 
time,  even  this  precaution  became  unnecessary,  and 
men  and  women  were  advertised  for  sale  like  animals 
and  chattels. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  Alexander  I,  received 
a  petition  from  a  number  of  serfs  who  had  been  sold 
to  a  Scotchman,  and  were  cruelly  ill-used  at  his  found- 
ries at  Saint  Petersburg.  Only  nobles  were  supposed 
to  hold  serfs,  and  this  man  had  received  a  title,  in 
recompense  of  the  services  he  had  rendered,  by  the 
introduction  of  steam  navigation.  The  Czar  sent  the 
petition  to  the  Council  of  State  to  have  the  matter 
examined,  adding  a  few  lines  in  his  own  writing  to 
express  his  surprise  that  peasants  had  been  sold  in  this 
illegal  way.  "  I  am  sure,"  said  his  Imperial  majesty, 
"  that  the  sale  of  serfs  without  the  land,  is  forbidden 
by  the  law."  And  the  Czar,  says  Turguenef,  the  Sena- 
tor, (not  the  novelist,)  "was  convinced  that  these 
"  abuses  were  abolished,  whereas  they  were  becoming 
"  more  flagrant  from  day  to  day.  At  the  Palace  of 
"  Justice,  not  two  steps  from  the  Imperial  residence, 
•"  serfs  were  being  sold  to  the  highest  bidder,  at  bank- 
"  rupt  sales."  So  utterly  ignorant  are  autocrats  of 
what  is  going  on  around  them. 

From  the  beginning  of  Alexander  the  First's  reign, 
one  million  rubles  of  the  public  revenue  were  devoted 
annually  to  the  purchase  of  lands  to  which  serfs  were 


SERFDOM.  49 

attached,  while  many  nobles  offered  to  liberate  theirs 
without  compensation  of  any  kind ;  and  though  the 
Ukase  of  Emancipation  was  delayed  until  1860,  Russia 
was  not  the  last  stronghold  of  slavery  among  Christian 
nations.  A  peculiar  feature  of  serfdom  in  Russia  was, 
that  none  but  Russian  Slavs  could  be  reduced  to  this 
unhappy  condition.  Even  Tartars,  who  furnished 
large  contingents  to  the  army,  were  exempt  from  the 
law  of  Boris,  and  slaves  of  any  other  nationality  be- 
came free  on  touching  Russian  soil.  Pouchkine,  one 
of  Russia's  greatest  poets  in  the  last  century,  was  the 
grandson  of  an  African  slave,  on  whom  it  had  pleased 
Peter  the  Great  to  confer  a  title  and  marry  to  a  grand 
dame  of  his  court. 

At  the  time  of  the  Emancipation  there  were  two 
classes  of  serfs.  Serfs  a  1'obrok  and  serfs  a  la  corvee. 
The  condition  of  the  former  was  really  not  a  painful 
one,  when  they  belonged  to  wealthy  and  kindly  dis- 
posed nobles.  They  paid  their  owner  a  certain  rede- 
vance  or  rent,  and  were  free  to  employ  their  time  and 
make  money  as  they  chose.  Thirty  years  ago  most  of 
the  masons  and  carpenters  of  St.  Petersburg  and 
Moscow  were  serfs  of  this  class,  who  had  come  from 
the  provinces.  Turguenef  speaks  of  one  of  these 
serfs,  who  had  made  a  large  fortune  as  a  hatter,  and 
offered  his  master  800,000  rubles  as  the  price  of  his 
freedom  ;  the  latter  was  in  need  of  ready  money  and 
gladly  accepted  the  offer.  Others  engaged  in  com- 
merce and  became  quite  wealthy.  Their  chain  was 
long  and  light,  but  they  were  not  the  less  slaves.  In 
many  respects  their  condition  was  similar  to  that  of 
married  women  in  England  until  recent  years.  They 


50  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

could  do  nothing  except  in  their  masters  name,  and 
he  could  appropriate  all  their  earnings  if  he  chose 
to  do  so.  This  cruel  injustice  was  sometimes  perpe- 
trated, but  it  was,  happily,  the  exception  not  the  rule. 
Before  the  Emancipation  there  used  to  be  at  St. 
Petersburg  and  the  principal  cities,  agencies  which 
supplied  commercial  houses  and.  private  individuals 
with  cashiers,  clerks  and  superintendents.  Agents 
and  employes  were  all  serfs  a  1'obrok,  and  equally  re- 
nowned for  their  great  probity  and  capacity. 

The  condition  of  serfs  a  la  corvee  was  by  no  means 
as  favorable.  They  were  forced  to  work  for  their 
masters  at  least  three  days  in  the  week,  and  many  ra- 
pacious owners  were  in  the  habit  of  exacting  extra 
labor,  as  well  as  a  tribute  in  the  way  of  eggs,  butter 
and  honey.  These  unfortunate  serfs  were  subjected 
to  much  ill  treatment  and  injustice.  They  were  often 
hired  out  to  contractors  of  public  works,  scantily  fed, 
and  forced  to  work  hard  every  day  of  the  week,  with- 
out remuneration.  However,  the  crying  wrongs  of 
the  serfs,  like  the  cruel  treatment  of  political  exiles, 
have  been  dwrelt  upon  so  extensively,  that  it  would  be 
useless  to  expatiate  here  upon  what  cannot  be  too 
much  vituperated. 

"Most  foreigners,"  says  Mackenzie  Wallace,  "are 
already  only  too  ready  to  exaggerate  the  oppression 
and  cruelty  to  which  serfdom  gave  rise,  so  that  in 
quoting  a  number  of  striking  examples,  I  shall  only 
be  pandering  to  a  taste  for  the  horrible  and  the  sensa- 
tional which  is  in  no  need  of  stimulus,"  The  same 
writer  informs  us  that  in  the  year  which  preceded  the 
Emancipation,  the  number  of  estates,  placed  under 


SERFDOM.  51 

curators,  in  consequence  of  the  abuse  of  authority  on 
the  part  of  the  owners,  amounted  to  two  hundred  and 
fifteen. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  proprietors  were  en- 
lightened and  humane,  as  was  often  the  case,  the  life 
of  the  Russian  serf  "was  much  easier  than  that  of 
"  many  free  men,  who  live  in  a  state  of  complete  indi- 
"  vidual  freedom  and  unrestrained  competition.  And, 
"  when  I  say  that  the  condition  of  many  free  men  is 
"  worse  than  was  the  condition  of  many  Russian 
"  serfs,  the  reader  must  not  imagine  that  I  am  think- 
"  ing  of  some  barbarous  tribe,  among  whom  freedom 
"means  an  utter  absence  of  law  and  unrestricted 
"  right  of  pillage.  On  the  contrary,  I  am  thinking  of 
"  a  class  of  men  who  have  the  good  fortune  to  live 
"  under  the  beneficent  protection  of  English  law,  not 
"  in  some  distant  inhospitable  colony,  but  between  St. 
"  George's  Channel  and  the  North  Sea."  (Wallace's 
Russia.) 

So  extreme  a  statement  could  only  be  made  on  the 
authority  of  a  man  who  passed  six  years  in  Russia 
with  the  express  purpose  of  studying  the  national 
institutions. 

Since  the  beginning  of  this  century  all  parties,  the 
autocrats  and  the  Slavophils,  as  well  as  the  liberals  and 
the  radicals,  deeply  felt  the  necessity  of  abolishing  a 
system  wrhich  was  opposed  to  all  moral  and  material 
progress  of  individuals  as  well  as  of  the  nation,  and 
must  be  overthrown  before  any  other  reforms  could 
be  effected.  For  the  first  time  public  opinion  asserted 
itself  in  Russia.  Poetry,  romance  and  the  drama  pre- 
pared the  w^ay.  Madam  Markevitch  was  the  serfs 


52  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Harriett  Beecher  Stowe,  while  "Dead  Souls  of  Gogol" 
and  Turguenef  s  "Memoirs  of  a  Hunter,"  awoke  pub- 
lic interest  by  presenting  most  faithful  pictures  of  the 
lives  of  the  serfs  and  their  masters. 

The  Emancipation  was  accomplished  by  the  united 
efforts  of  all  classes,  if  we  except  the  class,  the  most 
interested.  To  use  the  expression  employed  by  Alex- 
ander II  in  his  manifesto,  announcing  the  termination 
of  the  Crimean  war,  and  his  projected  reforms,  it  was 
truly  the  result  "of  the  combined  efforts  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  people,"  and  in  this  respect  it  differs 
entirely  from  the  reforms  effected  by  Peter  the  Great 
without  the  nation,  and  in  spite  of  it.  The  Emanci- 
pation considered  in  this  light,  marks  a  new  era  in 
Russian  history,  and  shows  the  progress  made  by  the 
nation  during  the  last  two  centuries. 

The  great  difficulty,  lay  in  devising  a  means  of  con- 
ciliating the  rights  of  proprietors  with  the  liberation 
of  their  serfs,  and  of  emancipating  so  large  a  body  of 
inhabitants,  without  introducing  the  two  devouring 
evils  of  Western  Europe — pauperism  and  proletariat, 
hitherto  unknown  in  Russia. 

The  method  adopted  was  this.  Half  the  arable  land 
was  taken  from  the  serf  owners,  and  given  to  the  Mirs 
or  Village  Communes,  who  held  it  in  trust  for  the 
emancipated  serfs,  to  whom  they  portioned  it  out, 
according  to  the  needs  of  each  family.  The  dues  on 
these  lands  were  liberally  estimated,  and  capitalized  at 
six  per  cent,  the  government  immediately  paying  to  the 
proprietors  four-fifths  of  the  whole  sum,  by  bonds  or 
otherwise.  The  peasants  were  to  pay  six  per  cent,  to 
the  government,  during  forty-nine  years,  for  the  sums 


SERFDOM.  53 

advanced,  and  the  remaining  fifth  to   the   proprietors, 
either  at  once  or  by  instalments. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  peasants  were  by  no 
means  overjoyed.  Freedom  in  these  conditions  hardly 
appeared  a  boon.  The  brain  of  the  moujik,  is,  as  a 
rule,  quite  impervious  to  the  meaning  of  the  word 
liberty  in  the  abstract ;  to  him,  the  jargon  of  liberal- 
ism is  an  unknown  tongue.  "What  has  this  French- 
man been  jabbering  about  ?"  is  all  the  response  a 
revolutionary  propagandist  elicits  from  his  moujik 
audience  (Turguenef's  Virgin  soil.)  This  is  the  stone 
wall  against  which  the  hopes  of  radicals  and  nihil- 
ists have  always  been  shattered.  They  forget  that  the 
people  of  whom  they  are  the  self -constituted  cham- 
pions against  the  autocrats,  are  absorbed  by  their  phy- 
sical necessities,  and  quite  unconscious  of  the  needs 
and  aspirations  which  are  attributed  to  them.  "Rus- 
"  sian  radicalism  is  founded  on  the  ignorance  of  the 
"  nature  and  the  needs  of  the  people,  whose  wants  are 
"  reduced  to  such  a  minimum,  that  only  extreme 
"  misery  can  rouse  them  to  revolt,  and  very  meager 
"  concessions  suffice  to  appease  them.  Nor  will  this 
"  change,  until  the  people  have  attained  a  certain 
"  degree  of  culture."  (Fragment  of  a  memoir  found 
in  the  possession  of  a  propagandist  named  Tsvilinef.) 

What  the  Russian  peasant  does  want,  is  to  have  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  this,  as  easily  as  possible.  When, 
therefore,  they  understood  that  the  ukase  of  emancipa- 
tion left  them  hampered  with  the  burden  of  obliga- 
tions, as  onerous  as  before,  their  first  feeling  was  one 
of  discontent.  So  much  the  more  so,  that  they  had 
never  considered  themselves  exactly  as  serfs,  and  that 


54  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

there  was,  among  them,  a  traditional  belief  that  the 
land  belonged  to  the  Commune,  the  nobles  being  only 
temporary  occupants,  with  a  delegated  authority,  who 
were  allowed  by  the  Czar,  to  exact  labor  and  dues 
within  certain  limits.  It  was  this  feeling  of  proprietor- 
ship, no  doubt,  that  preserved  the  moujik  from  the 
debasing  influence  of  slavery,  and  maintained  the 
simple  dignity  and  self-respect  which  has  always 
characterized  these  poor  sons  of  toil.  The  ancient 
feudal  tenure  was  probably  at  the  root  of  this  belief, 
which  persisted,  long  after  the  former  had  become 
absolute  ownership.  "We  are  yours  but  the  land  is 
ours,"  was  a  popular  saying  among  the  serfs.  So 
genuine  was  this  conviction,  that  at  the  time  of  the 
emancipation  a  large  commune  in  a  province  of  Mos- 
cow naively  sent  a  deputation  to  their  former  pro- 
prietor, to  inform  him  that  "as  he  had  always  been  a 
"  good  master,  the  Mir  would  allow  him  to  retain  his 
"  house  and  garden  during  his  life  time."  And  in 
recent  years,  when  a  general  re-distribution  of  the 
land  wsis  confidently  expected  by  the  peasants,  they 
kindly  sought  to  reassure  landlords  who  had  large 
families,  by  telling  them,  "that  they  had  nothing  to 
fear,  because,  at  the  coming  redistribution,  they  would 
certainly  receive  an  extra  piece  of  land  in  addition  to 
what  they  already  held." 

The  number  of  serfs  emancipated  in  1861,  if  we 
include  the  crown  peasants  and  the  domestic  serfs,  was 
about  forty  millions.  The  latter  were  not  an  agricul- 
tural class,  and  they  received  no  lands,  but  generally 
continued  to  serve  their  former  owners  or  new  mas- 
ters for  wages. 


SERFDOM.  55 

Discontented,  idle  members  of  this  class  congregate 
in  large  towns,  and  may,  in  time,  become  a  disturbing 
proletariat,  open  to  revolutionary  seduction.  In  the 
fertile  districts,  where  land  is  always  increasing  in 
value,  both  peasants  and  their  ci-devant  proprietors 
congratulate  themselves  on  their  changed  relations. 
Such  is  not  the  case,  however,  in  less  favored  districts, 
where  peasants  and  nobles  alike  find  their  well-being 
diminished  by  the  emancipation. 

From  a  moral  standpoint,  the  reform  was,  for  the 
nobles,  a  most  undoubted  and  immediate  benefit.  They 
were  deprived  of  the  exercise  of  "power  without 
"  right,"  of  which  Chatham  truly  says :  "  that  it  is 
"  the  most  detestable  object  which  can  be  presented  to 
"  the  human  imagination ;  it  is  not  only  pernicious  to 
"  those  whom  it  subjects,  but  works  its  own  destruc- 
"  tion."  Moreover,  the  nobles  were  forced  to  shake 
off  some  of  their  oriental  lethargy,  and  take  means  to 
adapt  themselves  to  the  new  state  of  affairs,  which,  in 
many  cases,  diminished  their  revenues,  and,  always, 
made  them  more  precarious  and  dependent  on  their 
own  exertions.  "  Formerly,"  said  one  of  them,  "  we 
kept  no  accounts  and  drank  champagne,  now,  we  keep 
accounts  and  drink  beer." 

Indirectly,  the  emancipation  did  ruin  some  nobles  : 
those  whose  position  was  like  that  of  insolvent  mer- 
chants, who  postpone  the  day  of  reckoning  by  means 
of  credit  and  promissory  notes  ;  and  those  wrho  con- 
tinued to  live  recklessly  beyond  their  income,  without 
taking  any  means  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new 
regime,  were  inevitably  ruined,  ere  long. 

For  the  peasants,  the  benefits  of    the  emancipation 


56  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

were  less  tangible ;  for  them,  the  seamy  side  was  at 
first  the  most  apparent.  In  the  days  of  serfdom,  they 
grazed  their  cattle  on  the  pastures  of  their  owners, 
and  they  used  his  timber  for  building  and  repairing 
their  izbas,  now  they  are  forced  to  rent  pasturage,  and 
must  buy  every  piece  of  wood  they  need.  If  they 
were  improvident  or  unlucky,  the  master  was  their 
resource ;  overtaken  by  sickness  or  old  age,  he  was 
their  providence.  All  this  they  naturally  regret. 

The  emancipation  has  improved  their  legal  position, 
and  undoubtedly  increased  their  opportunities  of 
moral  and  material  progress.  Have  they  availed  them- 
selves to  the  utmost  of  their  new  advantages  ?  Hardly. 
Their  present  condition,  as  compared  with  the  past, 
is  correctly  described  by  a  peasant's  answer  to  inqui- 
ries on  the  subject :  "  How  shall  I  tell  you  ?"  he 
replied  ;  "  it  is  both  better  and  worse."  Better  for 
those  whom  industry,  ability  and  favorable  circum- 
stances have  enabled  to  profit  by  their  liberty,  to  build 
up  a  little  fortune,  and  become  village  plutocrats  or 
"  Koulaks,"  as  they  are  called  ;  worse  for  those  whom 
improvidence,  idleness  or  ill  luck  has  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  wage- workers ;  whom  penury  has  com- 
pelled to  mortgage  their  time  and  labor.  The  burden 
of  taxes  is  heavy,  no  doubt,  though  it  has  been  some- 
what diminished  in  recent  years.  But  even  admitting 
with  the  Nihilist  "  Stepniak,"  that  "  the  peasant  gives 
"  up  in  taxes  of  all  descriptions  forty-five  per  cent.  of. 
w  his  income,  or,  in  other  terms,  three  days  work  in  a 
week,"  it  is  hardly  fair  to  make  the  agrarian  condi- 
tions of  the  Ukase  of  1860  wholly  responsible  for  the 
misfortune  of  those  peasants,  who  have  fallen  into 


SERFDOM.  57 

"  kabala,"  or  state  of  dependency  of  the  laborer  on 
his  employer,  which  arises  from  the  former's  irretriev- 
able indebtedness."  For,  at  the  outset,  all  were 
equally  handicapped  by  the  burden  of  taxes ;  those 
who  succeeded  in  building  up  small  fortunes,  as  well  as 
those  who  fell  into  "  kabala,"  which,  after  all,  is  really 
the  condition  of  the  masses  of  wage  workers  in  all 
civilized  countries. 

"  Arbiters  of  the  peace,"  as  they  were  called,  who 
undertook  the  difficult  task  of  conciliating  the  in- 
terests of  the  nobles  and  the  serfs,  acquitted  them- 
selves of  their  arduous  duties  with  great  skill  and 
devoted  disinterestedness,  and  the  disappointed  peas- 
ants were  finally  persuaded  into  appreciating  their 
liberty,  in  spite  of  the  onerous  conditions  by  which  it 
was  accompanied.  As  much  praise  cannot  be  bestowed 
on  the  peasant  judges.  The  elders  of  the  Mir  or  village 
self-government,  are  afflicted  with  the  prevalent  malady 
venality,  in  all  its  forms.  They  sell  their  integrity  for 
vodka  (whiskey)  and  tamper  with  the  funds  that  pass 
through  their  hands.  Well-to-do  honest  peasants  will 
not  hold  office,  and  in  consequence  the  government  of 
the  village  democracies  often  falls  into  the  most  un- 
worthy hands. 

The  supineness  and  inebriety  of  the  Russian  peas- 
ants continue  to  be  unfortunate  facts,  though  they  are 
often  exaggerated.  Their  dishonesty,  too,  is  prover- 
bial, but  it  must  be  remembered  that  centuries  of  serf- 
dom which  impeded  the  development  of  civil  and 
moral  personality,  also  blunted  the  sense  of  personal 
responsibility.  For  generations  they  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  supply  themselves  from  their  master's  posses- 


58  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

sions,  and  they  could  not  instantaneously  acquire  a 
moral  sense,  in  harmony  with  their  new  social  status. 
They  are  not,  however,  devoid  of  good  qualities  and 
are  often  possessed  of  great  mental  resources.  Even 
in  the  days  of  servitude,  many  showed  themselves 
faithfully  devoted,  nobly  disinterested,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  endowed  with  remarkable  acuteness. 

Speaking  of  a  serf  who  had  been  sent  to  Saint  Peters- 
burg to  watch  over  his  master's  interests,  in  a  case 
which  was  passing  through  the  courts  there,  Turguenef 
says,  he  was  struck  by  the  great  ability  and  technical 
knowledge  with  which  this  illiterate  peasant  pleaded 
his  owner's  case,  while  he,  himself,  was  uncomplain- 
ingly enduring  the  privation  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 
"  My  master  is  poor  and  cannot  afford  to  do  more," 
he  said,  apologetically,  when  Turguenef  alluded  to 
his  privations,  and  offered  him  pecuniary  aid,  which 
he  accepted  with  simplicity  and  dignity.  (La  Russie 
et  les  Russes.) 

Great  revolutions  can  never  be  accomplished  with- 
out more  or  less  destroying  the  political  equilibrium  of 
a  nation.  Contending  rights  and  conflicting  interests 
must  for  a  time,  disturb  the  social  organism  and  raise 
serious  doubts,  as  to  whether  the  remedy  is  not  worse 
than  the  evil.  Hence  the  device  of  conservators: 
"  Quieta  non  movere." 

The  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  revolution 
accomplished  in  Russia,  by  the  abolition  of  serfdom, 
as  it  existed  in  1861,  is  not,  perhaps,  duly  estimated. 
The  very  foundations  on  which  the  social  structure 
reposed,  were  shaken,  and  a  new  legislation,  so  to  say, 
became  necessary  to  regulate  the  condition  of  these 


SERFDOM.  59 

millions  who  had  had  no  legal  existence  hitherto.  All 
this  has  necessarily  induced  what  geologists  would  call 
a  prolongation  of  the  "  liquid  state,"  and  many  years 
must  elapse  before  the  nation  can  be  consolidated  on  a 
new  basis. 

The  absence  of  middle  classes  has  been  a  long  felt 
want  in  Russia,  and  it  was  intensified  by  the  law  of 
Boris  Godonof,  which  isolated  and  nullified  a  large 
portion  of  the  nation,  who  vegetated  for  centuries  in 
the  shadow  of  their  rural  institutions.  More  than  one 
Russian  sovereign  has  recognized  the  need  of  having  a 
middle  class  of  traders  and  artisans,  and  has  sought  to 
create  one.  Ivan,  the  Terrible,  destructor  of  the  com- 
monwealths of  Novgorod  and  Pskof,  endeavored  to 
raise  and  aggrandize  the  citizens  of  Moscow  in  particu- 
lar, with  a  view  to  forming  an  influential  urban  class, 
as  a  counterpoise  to  the  proud  Kinaz,  (Princes)  and 
boyars  (landed  gentry.)  Peter  the  Great  pursued 
the  same  policy,  and  endowed  the  cities  with  many 
privileges,  even  according  them  a  certain  local  auton- 
omy. 

Unfortunately  the  restriction  of  these  privileges  by 
his  successors,  and  the  transforming  of  several  branches 
of  commerce  into  State  monopolies,  retarded  the  for- 
mation of  a  bourgeoisie. 

Catherine  II,  strove  in  vain  to  complete  the  w^ork  of 
Peter  the  Great,  by  dividing  the  traders  and  mer- 
chants into  groups  or  guilds,  having  their  own  admin- 
istration and  privileges. 

To  Alexander  Second  was  reserved  the  glory  of  re- 
moving the  great  obstacle,  to  the  formation  of  a  class 
of  intelligent,  responsible  workers,  capable  of  becom- 


60  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

ing  some  day  the  co-operators  of  the  Czar.  This  class 
is  in  process  of  formation,  but  these  millions  of  ci-de- 
vant serfs  are  not  yet  sufficiently  developed  to  become 
the  guardians  of  political  liberty,  and  the  controllers 
of  the  bureaucrats.  Like  the  giant  Illya  of  Mouron, 
in  the  Russian  legends,  the  people  of  whom  he  is  sup- 
posed to  be  a  personification,  have  been  so  long 
shackled  and  manacled,  that  even  now,  when  the  fet- 
ters have  been  forged  off,  they  have  not  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  their  power,  nor  the  free  use  of  their 
latent  faculties.  Until  they  acquire  both,  autocracy 
and  bureaucracy  must  needs  reign,  if  the  masses  are  to 
be  saved  from  the  tyranny  of  the  learned  proletariat, 
and  of  what  Horace  Greely  calls  "  swashy  politicians." 

The  cordial  relations  which  continue  to  exist,  be- 
tween the  ci-devant  serfs  and  the  nobles,  are  worthy 
of  remark.  At  the  Zemstvos  or  provincial  assemblies 
of  self-government,  they  deliberate  side  by  side,  with- 
out the  least  animosity  or  systematic  opposition.  Still 
it  takes  time  for  the  serf  to  forget  his  former  state, 
and  for  the  owner  to  forget  that  these  men  who  now 
speak  of  their  rights  and  maintain  them,  were  once 
his  property. 

Since  the  emancipation,  the  social  dualism  has  been 
greatly  attenuated,  but  not  until  it  has  been  entirely 
destroyed,  and  the  different  classes  linked  together  in 
common  efforts  for  the  common  weal,  will  Russia 
show  to  the  world,  the  whole  gamut  of  her  genius  and 
strength. 

If  for  individuals,  adversity  is  the  best  training 
school  for  greatness,  can  the  rude  discipline  which  the 
Russian  people  have  undergone,  be  unavailing  for 


SERFDOM.  61 

their  future  grandeur  ?  Even  now,  it  is  the  Spartan 
stoicism,  the  unlimited  obedience  and  patient  self- 
abnegation  of  the  peasant  soldier,  that  make  the  force 
of  the  Russian  army,  while  his  mansuetude  and  bon- 
homie are  the  organs  of  Russia's  genius  for  coloniza- 
tion and  assimilation. 

The  conquered  find  the  yoke  less  galling  and  soon 
become  reconciled  to  it,  when  their  yoke  fellows  of 
the  conquering  race  are  not  overbearing,  supercilious 
and  arrogant.  Like  many  a  partial,  discriminating 
mother,  Russia  will,  no  doubt,  some  day  find  that  the 
children  whom  she  has  the  most  ill-used  and  neglected, 
are  those  to  whom  she  will  owe  the  most. 

Revolutionary  propagandists  are  not  wanting,  who 
endeavor  to  persuade  the  people  and  the  public,  that 
the  condition  of  the  peasants  is  worse  than  it  was  in 
the  days  of  serfdom,  and  that  soon  they  will  fall  into 
a  state  more  deplorable  than  that  of  the  "English  peo- 
ple, whom  the  rich  have  deprived  of  their  lands  and 
reduced  to  the  state  of  slaves."  But  they  find  the 
peasants  quite  inaccessible.  Some  writers  are  pleased 
to  attribute  their  want  of  responsiveness  to  these 
incendiary  efforts  to  brutish  stolidity  and  rank  in- 
anity. 

"What  can  you  do,"  they  say,  with  people  whose 
greatest  pre-occupation  is  whether  the  sign  of  the 
cross  ought  to  be  made  with  three  fingers  or  with 
two  ?"  (Stepniak.) 

In  reality,  however,  it  is  the  filial  devotion  of  the 
people  to  the  Czar  that  is  their  best  preservative.  To 
rouse  these  apparently  inert  masses,  it  is  necessary  to 
appeal  to  them  in  his  name.  We  have  seen  this  done 


62  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

very  successfully  in  the  massacre  of  the  Jews.  They 
were  so  persuaded  in  the  latter  instance  that  they 
were  obeying  the  Czar,  that  in  a  certain  village  the 
peasants  naively  requested  the  permission  of  the  gov- 
ernment authorities,  to  leave  certain  houses  unpillaged 
till  the  next  morning.  The  only  way  to  disabuse  their 
mind  in  such  cases,  is  for  the  troops  to  fire  on  them, 
and  this  means  has  been  resorted  to  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  to  convince  them  that  they  were  not  acting 
in  conformity  with  the  Czar's  wishes.  They  have  un- 
bounded confidence  in  his  omnipotent  beneficence, 
and  have  lived,  since  the  emancipation,  in  constant 
expectation  of  a  new  Ukase,  which  is  to  give  them  full 
possession  of  their  lands,  and  better  their  condition  in 
every  way. 

Their  dreams  would  probably  have  been  realized  to 
a  great  extent,  if  the  unfortunate  Bulgarian  war  had 
not  drained  the  public  coffers  and  rendered  fiscal  re- 
forms impossible  for  the  time  being.  However,  re- 
cent reforms  in  the  system  of  taxation  have  somewhat 
ameliorated  their  condition,  and,  above  all,  the  peas- 
ants are  now  free  to  indulge  their  love  of  roving. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem  the  land  in  many  districts  is 
quite  unequal  to  the  support  of  the  rapidly  increasing 
population.  Not  only  does  the  supply  of  food  not  in- 
crease in  the  same  ratio  as  the  population,  which  Mal- 
thus  affirms  to  be  always  the  case,  but  the  productive- 
ness of  the  soil  decreases,  absolutely  as  well  as  rela- 
tively, owing  to  the  impoverishment  of  the  land  by 
unscientific  farming  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  to  the  accelerated  rapidity  with  which  the  popu- 
lation has  multiplied  of  late  years.  In  1877  the  cen- 


SERFDOM.  63 

BUS  numbered  about  seventy-eight  millions,  to-day 
there  are  nearly  a  hundred  and  ten  millions. 

Fortunately  for  Russia  the  remedy  is  within  reach. 
The  peasants  are  free  to  indulge  their  innate  love  of 
wandering,  which  provoked  the  measure  taken  by 
Boris  in  1593.  The  Perm  railway  has  been  fully  oc- 
cupied of  late  in  running  emigrant  trains  across  the 
Ural  mountains.  Sometimes  in  the  course  of  a  single 
year  thirty  to  forty  thousand  peasants  make  their  way 
to  the  fertile  regions  of  Tomsk  in  Siberia ;  it  is  their 
promised  land,  "flowing  with  milk  and  honey."  So 
much  for  the  horrors  of  exile  as  they  appear  to  the 
Russian  mind.  Formerly  they  used  to  tramp  on  foot 
two  thousand  miles  to  reach  their  destination,  leaving 
many  colonies  and  tomb-stones  on  the  road  like  some 
of  the  aborigines  of  America.  But  the  rapid  devel- 
opment of  the  railway  system  has  shortened  these 
arduous  journeys.  Most  of  the  peasants  now  tramp 
or  ride  as  far  as  the  Yolga,  sell  off  their  cattle,  pro- 
ceed by  steamer  to  Perm  and  take  the  train  across  the 
Urals  to  Tiumen,  where  the  navigation  system  to 
Siberia  begins.  Thence  they  continue  their  journey 
to  Tomsk  by  steamer.  This  form  of  tramp  coloniza- 
tion, accomplished  entirely  by  private  initiative,  existed 
long  before  the  conquest  of  Siberia. 

In  military  districts,  at  Kars  or  in  the  basin  of  the 
Amour  for  instance,  the  colonists  are  provided  for  by 
the  government,  they  are  transferred  to  their  destina- 
tion free  of  cost  and  find  everything  prepared  to  re- 
ceive them  when  they  arrive. 


SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

RUSSIAN    CHARACTERISTICS. 


Montesquieu,  and  other  philosophers  of  history,  have 
attributed  undue  importance  to  the  influence  of  phy- 
sical environments,  and  insisted  in  seeing  in  every 
social  and  political  organization  the  logical  sequence 
of  certain  climatic  and  topographical  premises,  as  if 
these  implied  a  fatality,  from  which  there  were  no 
escape.  Apart  from  the  exaggerations  of  this  school, 
the  fact  remains,  that  geographical  and  geological  con- 
formation, as  well  as  latitude  and  longitude  are  im- 
portant factors  in  the  development  of  the  character 
and  history  of  nations,  subjected  to  their  influence  for 
centuries. 

Speaking  of  the  effect  of  their  surroundings  on  the 
ancestors  of  the  English,  Taine  remarks  :  "  Rain,  wind 
"  and  surge  leave  room  for  naught  but  gloomy,  melan- 
"  choly  thoughts.  The  very  joy  of  the  billows  has  in 
"  it  an  inexplicable  restlessness  and  harshness,"  and  it 
is  to  these  influences  that  the  eminent  critic  ascribes 
the  melancholy  note  that  rings  through  English  litera- 
ture in  general. 

Unfortunately  for  Russia's  commercial  development, 
it  is  not  the  foggy,  moaning  sea  that  affects  the  inhabi- 
tants. Indeed,  for  many  centuries  she  had  no  access 
to  it  whatever,  and  even  now,  that  she  has  fought  her 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  65 

way  to  the  ocean  in  every  available  direction,  her 
harbors,  except  in  the  Black  Sea,  are  frozen  during 
several  months  of  the  year.  But  an  effect,  similar  to 
that  described  by  Taine,  is  produced  by  those  ever- 
lasting plains,  which  roll  on  monotonously  from  verst 
to  verst,  and  made  Madame  de  Stael  say,  that  when 
she  woke  in  the  morning  after  a  night's  travel  in 
Russia,  it  always  appeared  to  her  as  if  she  were  exactly 
at  the  same  place  as  the  night  before.  Anyone  who 
has  crossed  the  ocean  will  understand  this. 

Those  clear-cut  lines  of  lofty  peaks,  which  constantly 
confront  the  mountaineer,  nowhere  meet  the  Russian's 
gaze  to  shape  his  aspirations  towards  something  definite 
and  elevated,  while  bracing  his  nerves  to  energetic  and 
persevering  action.  No  distinct  horizons,  no  well 
characterized  contours  relieve  the  eye,  in  these  vast 
plains,  that  nurture  vague  aspirations,  erratic  ideas, 
and  long-suffering  resignation,  broken  only  by  fits  of 
violence  and  undefined  longing. 

Hence  the  vague  melancholy,  that  is  the  keynote  of 
the  Slav  nature,  and  this  compassionate  tenderness,  sad 
as  the  song  of  a  Moujik,  which  sighs  through  the 
writings  of  all  typical  Russian  authors. 

But  this  substratum  of  melancholy  in  the  national 
character  is  by  no  means  an  unsurmountable  evil,  for, 
in  spite  of  it,  the  Saxon  has  achieved  marvels  on  land 
and  sea,  in  every  latitude. 

The  Slavs  have  a  more  serious  enemy  to  contend  with 
in  the  extremes  of  their  climate.  An  over-exuberant 
nature  is  man's  worst  foe  ;  and  luxurious  climates  are 
by  no  means  favorable  to  the  development  of  a  nation  ; 
the  most  desirable  conditions  being  those  w^here  great 
5 


66  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

difficulties  exist,  together  with  available  means  for 
overcoming  them. 

The  intense  cold,  the  long  boreal  nights  of  the  in- 
terminable winter,  crush  and  sadden  the  spirit  of  the 
rural  millions,  whom  it  condemns  to  forced  inactivity 
through  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  At  St.  Peters- 
burg, in  latitude  63  north,  the  interval  between  sun- 
rise and  sunset  is  reduced,  on  certain  days,  to  a 
minimum  of  five  hours  and  forty-seven  minutes,  the 
sun  rising  about  9  A.  M.  and  setting  at  2.52  P.  M. 

The  intense  heafrof  summer  is,  perhaps,  not  less  trying 
in  its  way.  In  the  plains  of  Kirghiz,  which  correspond 
to  the  latitude  of  the  centre  of  France,  the  thermometer 
which  has  remained  frozen  for  weeks,  sometimes  bursts 
with  the  summer  heat ;  and  these  transitions  are 
accomplished,  writh  an  abruptness  of  which  inhabitants 
of  more  temperate  regions  have  no  conception. 

In  the  same  latitude  as  Paris  and  even  of  Venice, 
some  places  situated  north  of  the  Caspian  and  of  the 
Black  Sea,  have,  in  January,  the  temperature  of  Stock- 
holm, and  in  July,  that  of  the  Madeira  Islands.  These 
unfortunate  extremes  of  climate  are  attributable  to 
her  geographical  conformation,  Russia  being  only  a 
vast  plain  over  which  the  glacial  blasts  from  the  north 
and  scorching  south  winds,  sweep  unmolested  by  any 
mountain  chain.  She  is,  moreover,  beyond  the  tem- 
pering influences  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  without  which 
the  British  Isles  and  the  Scandinavian  Peninsula 
would  be  uninhabitable. 

Barbarian  hordes  and  invading  armies  have  also 
found,  in  these  vast  plains,  a  treacherous  ally  ;  and 
from  time  immemorial,  they  have  swept  over  them 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  67 

as  ruthlessly  as  Euroclydon  and  the  Sirocco.  The 
Tartars  were  at  home  in  these  plains,  which  seem  to  be 
a  continuation  of  the  Steppes  of  Asia ;  but  when  they 
penetrated  into  Moravia  and  Hungary,  it  was  a  new 
apprenticeship.  Their  cavalry  rapidly  diminished  for 
want  of  pasturage,  and  they  were  unable  to  cope  with 
the  difficulties  of  inarches  through  mountainous 
regions.  Thus  it  was  that  Russia  had  the  monopoly 
of  this  terrible  scourge. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  that  in  mountainous 
regions  men  are  bound  to  the  soil,  as  it  were,  and 
suffer,  when  they  are  torn  from  it,  from  that  mysteri- 
ous malady  called  nostalgia.  The  plain,  on  the  con- 
trary, never  holds  her  sons,  and  the  ever  receding 
horizon,  like  some  will-o-the-wisp,  seems  to  lure  the 
wanderer  to  advance  further  and  further.  The  roof 
tree  has  no  significance  for  the  Russian  peasant ; 
his  log  house  burns  so  often  that  he  cannot  possibly 
be  attached  to  it.  Nor  have  the  privations  and  hard- 
ships of  the  exile  and  the  emigrant  any  terrors  for  one 
inured  to  all  the  evils  of  poverty  and  inclement  skies. 

"  "With  the  sign  of  the  cross,  his  hatchet  in  his  belt, 
and  his  boots  slung  over  his  shoulder,  the  Russian 
peasant  will  set  out  for  the  other  extremity  of  Asia," 
(Rambaud.)  It  was  to  restrain  this  propensity  for 
Avandering,  that  the  law  of  Boris  Godonof  was  pro- 
mulgated. Before  and  since  this  law,  discontented 
or  ambitious  peasants,  runaway  serfs,  persecuted  non- 
conformists, all  wandered  from  their  homes  and  peo- 
pled the  frontier  districts,  particularly  the  sunny 
Ukraine,  the  romantic  lands  of  Kosac  life. 

Like  their   climate,  the   character   of   the  Russians 


68  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

has  great  extremes,  and  is  composed  of  traits  that 
might  well  be  supposed  to  exclude  each  other.  Fe- 
brile energy  often  gives  way  to  lifeless  torpor ;  listless 
indifference  suddenly  becomes  impetuous  energy  and 
vice  versa.  Optimism  and  pessimism,  credulity 
and  scepticism,  realism  and  idealism,  characterize  the 
same  individual,  alternately  and  even  simultaneously. 

I  was  at  one  time  intimately  acquainted  with  a 
Russian  Princess,  Alexandrine  Molostwoff,  of  Kasan, 
whose  nature  was  a  tissue  of  contradictions,  and  quite 
a  study  from  its  continual  play  of  light  and  shade, 
which  always  reminded  me  of  the  glints  we  see  on  the 
dark  waves  of  a  storm  tossed  ocean.  She  had  come 
to  France  to  undergo  a  very  dangerous  operation,  and 
the  chances  of  her  recovering  or  succumbing  were 
about  even.  Nevertheless  she  took  advantage  of  her 
sojourn  to  replenish  her  wardrobe  with  quite  a  num- 
ber of  toilettes,  not  the  least  recherche  of  which  was  a 
burial  robe,  as  she  fully  realized  that  she  might  soon 
need  one.  And  I  have  seen  her  examine  and  discuss 
the  furbelows  of  all  with  equal  interest,  passing  from 
grave  to  gay  with  undisturbed  equanimity. 

What  Bryce  says  of  Americans,  in  his  admirable 
work  on  the  American  Commonwealth,  applies  equally 
to  Russians.  "  They  are  a  changeful  people,  not 
u  tickle,  but  they  have  what  chemists  call  low  specific 
"  heat ;  they  grow  warm  suddenly  and  cool  as  sud- 
"  denly.  They  are  liable  to  swift  and  vehement  out- 
u  bursts  of  feeling,  which  rush  like  wild  tire  across  the 
"  country."  Like  the  American,  too,  the  Russian 
temperament  craves  for  moral  stimulants,  and  loves  to 
run  risks  and  take  chances.  Commercial  and  stock 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  69 

speculation  not  yet  offering  sufficient  scope  to  these 
propensities,  gambling  is  extensively  indulged  in. 

Common  places  about  the  "  Russian  Bear,"  have  so 
long  and  so  often  been  repeated,  that  there  is  a  popu- 
lar belief  that  Russians,  of  all  classes,  are  more  or  less 
uncouth  and  inhuman,  and  altogether  lacking  in  that 
politeness  and  polish  for  which  the  French  and  Span- 
ish are*  renowned.  Nothing  can  be  more  erroneous. 
I  have  often  been  struck  by  the  exquisite  politeness 
with  which  members  of  the  same  family  treat  each 
other,  and  I  do  not  think  that  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  women  are  treated  with  greater  deference  in 
their  own  families  than  they  are  in  Russia. 

It  is  quite  a  common  practice  among  the  upper 
classes  of  France  and  Spain,  for  a  son  to  kiss  a  mother's 
hand  before  embracing  her,  but  I  never  saw  brothers 
greet  their  sisters  in  this  way,  except  among  Russians. 
As  to  the  peasantry,  travelers  seem  to  agree  in  saying, 
that  they  are,  perhaps,  the  most  kind  hearted,  affable 
and  courteous  people  in  the  world. 

Some  years  ago  De  Custine  said,  "that  in  Russia  the 
"  traveler  of  observant  and  independent  mind  was 
"  constantly  confronted  with  the  task  of  laboriously 
"  discerning  two  nations  in  a  multitude.  These  two 
"  nations  are  Russia  as  she  is,  and  Russia  as  she  would 
"  like  to  appear  to  Europe."  It  would  perhaps  have 
been  more  correct  to  say,  "  Russia  as  she  is  and  Russia 
as  she  is  trying  to  become."  To  use  a  popular  ex- 
pression she  "has  left  one  bank  and  has  not  yet 
reached  the  other." 

It  may  truly  be  said  that  Russia  is  a  great,  robust, 
overgrown,  backward  child,  struggling  with  all  the 


70  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

difficulties  and  perturbations  of  the  transition  state 
from  childhood  to  adolescence  ;  and  in  her  case  these 
difficulties  are  so  much  greater  that  her  development 
lias  been  stunted  and  abnormal. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  century,  Tchadief,  a  pessi- 
mist patriot,  expressed  himself  thus  :  ''Solitary  in  the 
"  world  we  have  neither  given  nor  received.  We 
"  have  not  added  one  idea  to  the  treasury  of 
"  humanity,  we  have  in  nowise  aided  in  perfecting  the 
"  human  mind."  And  Turguenef  indulges  in  this 
sarcasm  against  his  well-loved  country :  "We  have 
"  given  nothing  to  the  world  but  the  Samovar,  and  it 
"  is  even  doubtful  if  the  Samovar  be  our  own  inven- 
"  tion." 

No  wonder  then  that  it  was  generally  asked  of  Rus- 
sia, as  of  the  despised  province  of  Judea,  that  gave  a 
Saviour  to  the  world,  "Can  any  good  thing  come  out 
of  Galilee  ?"  Nay,  it  was  trenchantly  affirmed  that 
"  Russia  was  rotten  before  she  was  ripe."  But  while 
French  philosophers  thus  summarily  disposed  of  their 
destinies,  the  Russians  were  gathering  up  their  latent 
forces  and  preparing  to  make  a  new  departure  in  liter- 
ature as  well  as  in  sociology.  All  is  rudimentary 
inchoate  and  experimental,  it  is  true,  but  even  her  ene- 
mies admit  that  the  deficiencies  and  shortcomings  are 
those  of  youth  and  inexperience,  not  of  senility  or 
valetudinarianism. 

"  Fifteen  years  ago,"  wrote  Leroy  Beaulieu  (in 
1882,)  when  I  was  going  to  Moscow  for  the  first 
time,  the  proprietor  of  the  Revue  des  deux  Mondes 
said  to  me,  "Go  and  see  if  Russia  is  not  a  rotten 
plank  ?  "  To-day,  alas,  he  adds,  the  managers  of  the 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  71 

Evropsy  or  the  Rouskaia  Mysl  could  repeat  the  same 
injunction  to  their  editors  en  route  for  Paris." 

Speaking  of  the  wonderful  city  built  on  a  number 
of  marshy  islands  at  the  mouth  of  the  Neva,  which 
were  chiefly  inhabited  by  bears  and  wolves  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventeeth  century,  de  Custine  thus 
expressed  himself  fifty  years  ago  :  aSt.  Petersburg 
"with  its  magnificence  and  immensity,  is  a  trophy 
"  raised  by  the  Russians  to  their  future  greatness. 
"  Never  since  the  building  of  Solomon's  Temple,  has 
"  a  nation's  faith  in  its  destinies,  obtained  anything  so 
"  marvelous  from  the  earth."  This  confidence  in  the 
future  destinies  of  the  country  certainly  is  strong 
among  Russian  patriots.  Their  firm  conviction  is 
that  "  they  have  a  great  mission  to  fulfil,"  and  it  is 
on  their  future  greatness  that  national  self-complacency 
dwells,  rather  than  on  their  present  status,  to  the  evils 
of  which,  they  are  keenly  alive. 

It  is  a  well  established  fact,  that  at  the  root  of  all 
achievements,  is  that  undefined,  underlying  self-assur- 
ance, which  is,  itself,  a  pledge  and  a  forerunner  of 
success.  When  nations  or  individuals  have  lost  faith 
in  themselves,  little  is  attempted,  and  still  less  accom- 
plished. If  they  do  not  always  succeed,  even  with 
this  faith,  it  is  certain  that  they  never  succeed  without 
it.  A  celebrated  general  was  once  asked  ;  "  What  is 
a  battle  gained  ?"  He  was  at  first  at  a  loss  to  answer, 
then,  after  a  few  moments  reflection,  he  replied.  "  A 
battle  is  won  when  it  is  believed  to  be  won."  It  is  not 
numerical  force  that  turns  the  scales,  it  is  the  moral 
persuasion  of  victory  that  storms  the  citadel,  captures 
the  redout,  scales  the  rampart.  The  battle  of  Bull  Run, 


72  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

during  the  American  civil  war,  is  a  remarkable  illus- 
tration of  this  truth.  Both  sides  thinking  they  were 
beaten,  became  panic  stricken  and  fled. 

Philosophers  of  history  have  remarked  that  sover- 
eigns, even  autocrats,  command  safely  and  absolutely, 
only  what  is  consonant  with  the  genius  and  sympathies 
of  the  nation,  or  at  least  not  opposed  to  them.  With- 
out eliciting  a  murmur,  Peter  the  Great  could  trans- 
port thousands  of  his  subjects  to  lay  down  their  lives  in 
the  foundations  of  the  city,  which  it  pleased  him  to 
build  on  slimy  morasses,  and  exercise  many  other  acts 
of  arbitrary  power  ;  but,  when  he  ordered  his  subjects 
to  shave  their  chins,  and  that  their  wives  and  daugh- 
ters should  lay  aside  their  Eastern  seclusion,  he  was 
attacking  their  national  superstitions,  and  raised  a 
tempest,  which  nearly  submerged  the  house  of  Roma- 
noff. The  Russian  people  appear  to  be  a  great  inert 
mass,  mechanically  heaving  to  and  fro,  according  to 
the  impulsion  given  by  the  supreme  motor.  But  this 
is  only  an  optical  illusion.  In  her  ice-bound  rivers, 
when  all  vitality  seems  extinguished,  the  current  of 
animated  life,  with  all  its  phenomena,  goes  on  unin- 
terruptedly beneath  ;  and  so  it  is  with  the  nation.  It 
lives,  thinks,  feels,  grows  ;  but  slowly,  and  obscurely, 
according  to  its  Oriental  nature,  imperceptibly,  latently 
so  to  speak,  but  verily. 

The  policy  of  aggrandisement  which  is  generally 
attributed  to  the  personal  ambition  of  the  Tzars,  has 
the  entire  sympathy  of  the  nation.  The  Turkish  wars 
in  particular,  whatever  may  be  affirmed  to  the  con- 
trary in  England  and  in  Germany,  were  essentially 
popular  wars.  Writers  like  Haxthausen,  affirm  that 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  73 

"  young  Eussia  dreams  of  a  great  Slavonic  empire,  of 
"the  restoration  of  Byzantium,  of  the  ancient  Tzaragrad, 
"but  these  dreams  have  not  penetrated  among  the  peo- 
"  pie."  It  is  not  the  less  true,  however,  that  the  sov- 
ereigns who  were  victorious  against  the  Turks,  have 
always  been  the  most  beloved  and  popular,  no  matter 
how  cruel  and  oppressive.  When  Ivan  the  Terrible, 
whose  cruelty  was  certainly  unsurpassed,  threatened 
to  abdicate,  his  subjects  retained  him  by  entreaties  and 
supplications,  for  they  remembered  only  that  he  had 
destroyed  the  last  vestiges  of  Tartar  domination.  An 
instinct,  like  that  which  urged  Attila  and  successive 
generations  of  barbarians  to  march  upon  Rome, 
still  animates  the  Russians  with  regard  to  Constanti- 
nople. Centuries  of  oppression,  have,  moreover, 
caused  an  undying  animosity  towards  the  Turk,  and 
created  a  powerful  bond  of  sympathy  which  unites  all 
Slavs,  who  have  been  subjected  to  Moslem  domina- 
tion. This  sentiment  of  solidarity  was  the  soul  of  the 
Bulgarian  war,  in  1877,  and  transformed  simple,  stolid 
peasants  into  heroic  crusaders,  who  laid  down  their 
lives  with  joy  to  rescue  their  oppressed  brethren  from 
the  tyranny  of  the  Turks.  "  When  disturbances 
"  break  out  in  the  East,  the  Russian  peasantry  begin 
"  to  think  the  time  has  come,  when  a  crusade  will  be 
"  undertaken  for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  City  on 
"  the  Bosphorus,  and  for  the  liberation  of  their  breth- 
"  ren  in  the  faith,  who  now  groan  under  Turkish 
"  bondage.  This,  says  Wallace,  is  the  religious  ele- 
"  ment  in  that  strange,  attractive  force,  which  con- 
"  nects  Russia  with  Constantinople." 

Alexander  the  Second's  doom  was  sealed,  when,  at 


74  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

the  conference  of  Berlin,  he  allowed  German  influ- 
ence to  preponderate  by  the  candidature  of  Prince 
Alexander  of  Battenberg.  The  nation  did  not  forgive 
him  for  frustrating  them  in  their  aspirations,  and  ren- 
dering void  the  many  sacrifices  they  had  made  on 
behalf  of  their  brother  Slavs.  It  was  their  resent- 
ment of  the  Tzar's  disloyalty  towards  them,  more  than 
his  irresolute  policy,  that  gave  new  strength  to  the 
machinations  of  Nihilism,  which  culminated  in  the 
assassination  of  the  thirteenth  March,  1881.  No 
Tzar  of  Russia  can,  with  impunity,  neglect  any  oppor- 
tunity of  weakening  and  overthrowing  the  Osmanlis 
Turks.  If  he  does  so,  it  will  be  at  the  risk  of  his  life 
or  of  his  throne. 

Whatever  may  be  its  disadvantages,  Russia  is,  by  no 
means  tired  of  autocratic  government. 

Nothing  can  equal  the  devotion  and  the  veneration 
of  the  people  for  the  person  of  their  ruler.  Their 
worship  has  more  of  superstition  in  it  than  of  slavish 
fear. 

Everything  belonging  to  him  is  sacred  in  their  eyes. 
"Kayionne  (property  of  the  Tzar)  does  not  drown  in 
water,  does  not  burn  in  fire,"  is  a  popular  saying. 

There  is  scarcely  an  instance  on  record  of  a  col- 
lector of  taxes  being  robbed,  though  these  officers 
often  traverse  the  country  with  large  sums  of  money. 
When  the  collector  entered  a  village  he  used  to  tap 
at  the  window  calling  Kerya,  and  the  yearly  tax  was 
thrown  into  his  bag.  He  did  not  need  to  verify  the 
amount,  and  at  night  he  could  lay  down  his  treasure, 
well  assured,  that  the  neighboring  shrine  was  more 
likely  to  be  despoiled  than  he. 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  75 

No  distinction  is  made  between  the  will  of  God  and 
the  will  of  the  Tzar.  He  and  the  Supreme  Pontiff  of 
Rome  are  the  only  sovereigns,  who  thus  reign  over 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  their  people.  Yet  no  Rus- 
sian sovereign  has  ever  officially  proclaimed  himself 
head  of  the  national  Church  as  did  Henry  VIII. 

It  is  governed  by  the  Synod  established  by  Peter 
the  Great,  when  he  abolished  the  patriarchat  of  Mos- 
cow, which  Ivan  III  had  instituted  to  replace  that  of 
Constantinople,  when  this  city  was  taken  by  the 
Turks. 

Such  filial  tenderness  for  their  sovereign  on  the 
part  of  a  nation  governed  as  the  Russians  are,  seems 
incomprehensible  to  foreigners.  It  would  appear  as 
though  there  were  in  the  masses,  an  unconscious  re- 
cognition, that  it  is  not  an  individual  despotism  that 
oppresses  them  but  the  despotism  of  a  system,  itself 
the  inevitable  growth  of  unfortunate  circumstances. 

Though  the  Tzar  seems  to  be  the  first  Tchin  of  the 
empire,  and  so  to  say  identified  with  the  Tchinovism 
or  bureaucracy,  whom  they  hate,  the  Russian  people, 
with  the  sure  intuition  of  the  unlettered,  separate 
them  entirely.  For  the  Tzar  they  have  the  most 
filial  veneration,  while  for  the  Tchinoviks  they  have 
the  utmost  contempt. 

They  make  the  same  discrimination  with  regard  to 
the  clergy  in  their  sacred  character  and  the  clergy  as 
officials  of  the  government. 

It  must  be  acknowledged,  too,  that  whatever  may 
have  been  the  crimes  and  vices  of  some  of  the  Russian 
rulers  they  have  always  been  animated  by  the  most 
sincere  love  of  Russia.  Absolute  power  and  unlimited 


76  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

adulation  have  never  interfered  with  their  earnest  en- 
deavor to  promote  her  interests,  to  the  best  of  their 
knowledge  and  ability.  Indeed  it  is  quite  phenome- 
nal, that  mortals,  sorely  tempted  as  they  are,  should 
have  retained  so  much  humanity,  and  practised  virtues, 
which  would  do  honor  to  a  private  citizen. 

When  in  1711,Peter  the  Great  was  surrounded  by  the 
Turks  at  Yassy  on  the  Pruth,  with  nothing  before  him 
but  captivity  or  death,  he  wrote  thus  to  the  Senate  at 
Moscow  :  "  If  I  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
consider  me  no  longer  your  sovereign,  and  obey  no 
order  that  shall  proceed  from  my  place  of  confinement, 
though  it  should  be  signed  by  my  own  hand.  If  I 
perish,  cb  oose  the  worthiest  among  you  to  succeed  me." 
Would  not  such  perfect  self-abnegation  be  considered 
sublime  on  the  part  of  any  military  commander  ? 

It  was  Peter  the  Great,  too,  who  said  to  his  son  : 
"  If  you  do  not  change  your  conduct,  I  will  disinherit 
"  you.  For  my  country  and  my  subjects  I  have 
"  offered  my  life,  and  I  will  never  refuse  to  lay  it 
"  down ;  do  you  think,  then,  that  I  shall  spare  yours  ? 
"  I  would  rather  have  a  stranger  succeed  me,  if  it 
"  were  for  the  good  of  Russia,  than  my  own  blood,  if 
"  it  is  good  for  nothing."  And  this  same  Czar,  who 
ordered  every  member  of  the  Strelitz  or  Imperial  Body 
Guard  to  be  put  to  death  for  traitorously  conspiring 
with  foreigners  against  their  country,  did  not  hesitate 
to  risk  his  own  life  by  plunging  into  the  frozen  Baltic 
to  rescue  a  common  soldier  from  drowning. 

Peter  the  Great  may  truly  be  said  to  have  ~knouted 
Russia  into  civilization,  yet  no  one  will  deny  that  he, 
and  even  Ivan  the  Terrible,  were  fierce  lovers  of  their 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  77 

country.  When  the  latter  turned  Novgorod  into  a 
great  slaughter  house,  it  was  not  to  revenge  a  per. 
sonal  offense,  as  when  Theodosius  the  Great  destroyed 
Ephesus  because  his  statue  had  been  insulted  there, 
but  because  the  citizens  of  Novgorod  were  traitorously 
conspiring  with  the  Poles  and  the  Lithuanians  in  order 
to  maintain  their  civic  independence  which  Ivan 
deemed  incompatible  with  national  unity. 

"  After  Russia  I  have  loved  you  more  than  any- 
thing else  in  this  world,"  said  the  dying  Emperor 
Nicholas  to  his  son,  Alexander  ;  and  every  Czar  could 
truly  affirm,  that  Russia  was  always  uppermost  in  his 
affections ;  and,  that  according  to  his  lights,  he  had 
always  acted  for  the  country's  greatest  good. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  long  reign,  Nicholas,  broken 
hearted  at  the  defeat  of  his  troops  in  the  Crimea, 
seems  to  have  perceived  that  his  policy  was  an  anachro- 
nism, and  detrimental  to  the  country.  "  But  I  cannot 
"  change,"  he  sighed  ;  "  my  son  will  do  what  he  thinks 
"  right ;"  and  it  is  believed  that  he  deliberately  sought 
to  remove  an  obstacle  to  his  people's  good,  when  he 
knowingly  exposed  himself  to  certain  death.  Though 
suffering  from  pneumonia,  the  Czar  insisted  on  re- 
viewing his  troops  at  an  appointed  day  in  mid-winter. 
"  Sire,"  said  his  physician,  "  no  soldier  would  be 
allowed  to  stir  out  of  the  hospital  in  the  condition  you 
are  in." 

"  You  have  done  your  duty,"  replied  Nicholas ; 
"  now  let  me  do  mine ;"  and  this  great  and  good- 
much  abused  despot — returned  home,  a  few  hours 
later — to  die  ! 

I  recommend  to  the  thoughtful  perusal  of  those  for 


SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

whom  the  Czars  are  monsters,  wallowing  in  luxury  and 
vice,  the  following  passage  from  Count  von  Moltke's 
"  Letters  from  Russia."  After  minutely  describing  the 
magnificences  of  the  Winter  Palace  at  St.  Petersburg? 
the  great  Prussian  General  writes  : 

"  But,  besides  this,  there  is  en  the  ground  floor  of 
"  the  Palace,  also  on  the  northeast  corner,  a  little 
"  vaulted  room  with  one  window,  in  which  the  mighty 
"  Emperor  really  lived  ;  he  who  ruled  over  one-tenth 
"  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  ;  he  for  whom  Greeks, 
"  Catholics,  and  Protestant  Christians,  Mahometans, 
"  and  Jews  and  heathen  pray  in  four  quarters  of  the 
"  globe,  and  on  whose  territory  the  sun  never  sets, 
"  and  in  some  parts  of  which  its  does  not  rise  in  six 
"  months — here  lived  the  man  whom  his  people  loved, 
"  whom  Europe  hated,  because  they  feared  him,  but 
"  whom  they  were  forced  to  respect ;  whose  personal 
"  appearance  calmed  the  wildest  insurrections  ;  at 
"  whose  order,  in  the  first  cholera  epidemic,  the  frantic 
"  multitude  sunk  upon  their  knees,  begged  pardon  of 
"  God,  and  delivered  up  the  ringleaders  ;  who,  by  his 
"  will,  entangled  Europe  in  a  war  which  broke 
"  his  heart.  Here  he  died.  His  room  has  been 
"  left  as  the  Emperor  last  saw  it.  Here  is  his  little 
"  camp  bed,  with  the  same  sheets,  the  coarse  Persian 
"  shawl  and  the  cloak  with  which  he  covered  himself. 
"  All  the  little  toilet  articles,  the  books  and  maps  of 
"  Sebastopol  and  Cronstadt — all  lie  unchanged — even 
"  the  old  torn  slippers,  which,  I  believe  he  wore  28 
"  years,  and  always  had  mended.  The  Almanac  which 
"  was  set  every  day  marks  the  day  of  his  death." 

Conjointly  with  their  devotion  to  the  Czar,  Russians, 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  79 

of  all  classes,  are  remarkable  for  their  great  respect 
for  authority,  their  implicit  obedience,  and  their  keen 
sense  of  duty.  It  is  an  understood  thing,  in  Russia, 
that  personal  merit  confers 'higher  rank  than  the  mere 
accident  of  birth.  The  nobles  are  accustomed  to  see 
men  from  the  lowest  ranks  take  precedence  of  them, 
in  virtue  of  services  rendered  to  the  State  ;  and  in 
these  cases,  the  former  obey  unhesitatingly,  and  the 
latter  command  without  the  least  consciousness  of  in- 
feriority. 

The  word  Prikazeno  (it  is  ordered)  always  acts  like 
a  talisman.  "What  think  you  brother  (every  Russian 
peasant  considers  and  call  his  fellow  citizen  a  brother) 
shall  we  be  able  to  take  those  fortifications,"  said  a 
young  recruit  to  his  veteran  comrade,  a  little  before 
the  seige  of  Warsaw. 

"I  think  not,  they  are  very  strong,"  was   the  reply. 

"Ay,  but  suppose  we  are  ordered  to  take  them, 
what  then  ?" 

"That  is  different,  if  we  are  commanded  to  take 
them,  we  will  do  so."  And  it  was  commanded  and 
the  fortifications  were  taken. 

We  may  smile  at  the  blind  obedience  of  soldiers, 
continuing  to  water  a  parade  ground  when  it  had  just 
been  soaked  by  an  unexpected  shower,  or  at  those, 
who  in  an  accident  on  the  Neva,  having  been  ordered 
to  rescue  "chiefly  the  officers  of  the  guard,"  enquired  of 
every  drowning  man  "are  you  an  officer  of  the  guard," 
before  they  tried  to  save  him  ;  But  we  cannot  with- 
hold our  admiration,  when  we  read  of  those  who  per- 
ished in  the  inundations  of  the  Neva,  rather  than  de- 
sert their  post. 


80  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

It  is  related  that  at  the  conflagration  of  the  Winter 
Palace,  a  priest  who  rushed  through  the  buildings  to 
rescue  the  Pyx  from  the  burning  chapel,  perceived, 
in  one  of  the  passages,  a  soldier  enveloped  in  smoke. 
"Come  away  quickly  or  you  are  lost,"  cried  the  priest. 

"No,  said  the  soldier,  this  is  my  post,  but  give  me 
your  blessing" — the  priest  remonstrated  in  vain  ;  he 
gave  his  blessing  and  barely  escaped.  The  soldier 
was  never  seen  again. 

Who  can  measure  the  strength  of  a  nation  where  a 
hundred  and  ten  millions  are  pervaded  by  a  spirit  like 
this  and  animated  by  a  most  unlimited  devotion  to 
their  chief  ? 

Startling  as  the  assertion  may  seem  the  Russians 
are  sincerely  and  essentially  democratic,  aud  all  the 
recent  reforms  have  a  democratic  tendency. 

The  true  Russia,  that  is,  rural  Russia,  which  com- 
prises two-thirds  of  the  Czar's  subjects,  is  governed 
democratically,  and  nowhere  in  the  world,  do  the 
rights  of  the  "sovereign  people"  receive  practical 
recognition  as  they  do  there.  The  autocraphobe 
"Stepniak"  (Dragamonof)  whose  testimony  on  this 
point  is  unimpeachable,  writes  :  "Up  to  the  present 
"time  the  law  has  allowed  the  Mirs  a  considerable 
"  amount  of  self  government.  They  are  free  to  manage 
"  all  their  economical  concerns  in  common,  the  land, 
"  the  forests,  the  census,  the  public  houses,  <fec.,  they 
"  distribute  among  themselves  as  they  choose  the  taxes. 
"  They  elect  the  judges  of  the  volost  or  district.  The 
•'  jurisdiction  of  the  peasant  tribunals  is  very  exten- 
"  sive  ;  all  the  civil  and  a  good  many  of  the  criminal 
"  offenses  in  which  one  of  the  parties  at  least  is  a 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  81 

"  peasant  of  the  district,  is  amenable  to  it.  They  are 
"  not  bound  to  abide  by  the  official  code  of  law.  They 
"  administer  justice  according  to  the  customary  laws 
"  and  traditions  of  the  local  peasantry.  The  women 
"  are  in  all  respects  dealt  with,  on  an  equal  footing 
"  with  men.  Labor,  not  kinship,  is  regarded  as  giving 
"  an  indefeasible  right  to  property.  The  Mir  recogni- 
"  zes  no  restriction  on  its  autonomy.  It  embraces  all 
"  branches  and  domains  of  peasant  life.  "With  the 
"  Russian  Mir  the  law  is  nowhere,  the  conscience 
"  everywhere.  Not  merely  criminal  offenses,  but 
"  every  disputed  point  is  settled  according  to  the  in- 
"  dividual  justice  of  the  case,  no  recognition  being 
"  paid  to  the  category  of  crime  to  which  it  may  be- 
"  long.  The  Mir  recognizes  no  permanent  law,  res- 
"  tricting  or  guiding  its  decisions.  It  is  the  personifi- 
"  cation  of  the  living  law,  speaking  through  the  col- 
lective voice  of  the  community."  (Russian  peasantry, 
p.  78  and  following.  Stepniak  Harper  Bros.) 

In  the  foregoing  description  of  rural  self-govern- 
ment, we  find  the  great  principles  of  equity,  and  of 
judgment  by  one's  peers,  as  wrell  as  the  vexed  question 
of  woman's  rights,  practically  solved  by  the  illiterate 
peasants.  If  they  did  not  devise  something  correspond- 
ing to  the  habeas  corpus  act,  it  is  probably  owing  to  the 
circumstance  that  imprisonment  is  an  idea  quite  foreign 
to  the  Russian  mind.  Exiling  and  flogging,  which 
are  so  shocking  to  our  highly  civilized  ears,  they 
understand.  Exiling,  or  transportation,  to  speak  more 
correctly,  has  always  been  practiced  in  Russia.  Long 
before  Siberia  was  annexed,  delinquents  were  sent 
from  one  extremity  of  the  empire  to  the  other ; 


82  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

and  until  recent  years  it  used  to  be  the  custom 
in  the  Caucasian  district,  for  the  prince  to  ride 
around  the  country  administering  justice  in  the 
most  uncomplicated  way.  He  listened  to  both  sides, 
then  administered  a  sound  thrashing  to  the  guilty 
party,  who  was  forthwith  dismissed. 

The  power  of  banishing  undesirable  members  has 
always  been  considered  so  inalienable  a  right  by  the 
rural  democracies,  that  the  government  could  only  de- 
prive them  of  it  indirectly,  or  rather  place  restrictions  on 
its  exercise.  This  has  been  done  recently  by  obliging  the 
Mirs  themselves  to  furnish  the  money  for  transporting 
their  banished  ones,  which  was  done  hitherto  by  the 
Imperial  treasury,  thus  greatly  increasing  the  rolls  of 
the  governmental  exiles,  and  giving  rise  to  much  un- 
called for  vituperation  of  autocratic  despotism.  It 
sometimes  happens  that  as  many  as  five  thousand  are 
banished  by  their  fellow-citizens  in  the  course  of  a 
single  year. 

"With  modern  ideas  of  political  liberty,  the  masses 
have  no  sympathy.  The  representative  system  in 
nowise  appeals  to  them,  and  it  is  with  difficulty  that  the 
peasants  are  persuaded  to  send  delegates  to  the  Zemst- 
vos,  or  provincial  assemblies.  Popular  government 
as  it  is  practiced  in  the  Mir,  they  understand  and  ap 
preciate,  while  they  cling  to  autocracy  with  every  fibre 
of  their  being.  In  their  mind,  the  autocrat  is,  accord- 
ing to  the  expression  of  Katkoff,  "  the  guardian  of 
"  the  supreme  authority,  the  living  representative  of 
"  the  abstract  idea  of  the  fatherland."  For  them,  the 
Czar  and  the  "  Mir  "  are  equally  infallible,  and  the  de- 
cisions of  the  latter  are  always  unanimous  and  never 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  83 

appealed  from,  for,  whenever  the  minority  perceive 
that  the  general  sentiment  is  against  them  they  vote 
with  the  majority,  and  thus  "  the  common  sense  of  most 
doth  hold  a  fitful  realm  in-  awe."  Hence,  too,  the  fa- 
talism, the  tyranny  of  the  majority,  and  other  defects 
always  to  be  found  in  uncultured,  impulsive  democra- 
cies. 

The  hackneyed  word  Constitution  is  meaningless  to 
the  ordinary  Russian  mind. 

After  the  death  of  Alexander  I,  the  liberals  foment- 
ed a  military  insurrection  to  place  the  Grand  Duke 
Constantine  on  the  throne,  it  was  supposed  to  be  a 
popular  movement,  but  when  vivats  for  the  "  Consti- 
tution "  were  shouted  by  the  ringleaders,  the  naive 
inquiry  as  to  "  who  this  lady  might  be  ?"  was  heard 
on  all  sides.  Many  supposed  that  Constitucia  must  be 
the  name  of  Grand  Duke  Constan tine's  wife. 

"  Remarkably  flexible  in  the  combination  of  labor, 
"  and  rich  in  resources  in  the  higher  domain  of 
"  thought,  the  Russian  popular  mind  seems  to  have 
"  been  stricken  with  the  curse  of  sterility  in  the  do- 
"  main  of  politics,"  laments  Mr.  Dragamonof,  (Russian 
Peasantry,  p.  375.)  Thrice  blessed  curse !  we  might  be 
tempted  to  exclaim,  when  we  recall  the  corruption, 
the  huckstering  and  the  wire-pulling  which  have  made 
politics  and  politicians  a  by-word  and  a  reproach. 

But  if  the  Russians  are  fortunately  or  unfortunately 
devoid  of  political  aptitude,  the  deficiency  is  marvel- 
ously  compensated,  by  a  remarkable  promptitude  and 
abnegation  in  times  of  emergency.  In  1612  and  in 
1812,  it  was  the  people  who  saved  the  Empire  in  hours 
of  imminent  peril.  The  events  of  1812,  which  will 


84  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

be  known  in  history  as  the  Patriotic  War,  are  familiar 
to  all,  and  have  been  admirably  described  by  Tolstoi  in 
"  War  and  Peace."  Every  one  has  heard  how  the  peo- 
ple unhesitatingly  burnt  down  their  towns  and  villages 
on  Napoleon's  passage,  and  literally  reduced  the 
"  grande  armee  "  by  starvation.  "  Just  tell  us  when 
it  is  the  right  moment  to  do  so,  and  we  will  set  fire  to 
our  izbas,"  (log  cabins,)  said  the  peasants  to  the  sol- 
diers. 

At  Moscow,  the  governor,  Rostopchine,  fearing  that 
the  serfs  might  be  seduced  by  Napoleons  proclama- 
tion, promising  them  freedom,  placed  300,000  rubles  in 
the  hands  of  Glinka,  the  popular  editor  of  the  "  Rus- 
sian Messenger,"  to  bribe  their  patriotism  if  need 
were.  But  it  was  quite  unnecessary,  and  the  sum  was 
returned  intact.  The  peasants  armed  themselves  with 
pitchforks  and  hatchets,  and  did  as  much  work  as  the 
soldiers. 

No  sooner  was  Napoleon  established  in  the  palace 
of  the  Tzars,  than  fires  broke  out  in  all  parts  of  the 
city.  Moscow,  the  "  Holy  Mother,"  was  no  more  than 
a  peasants  "  izba  "  when  the  country's  safety  was  in- 
volved, and  her  citizens  sacrificed  her  to  the  names  as 
unhesitatingly  as  the  inhabitants  of  Ley  den,  in  the 
Netherlands,  opened  the  sluices  and  submerged  the 
country  in  order  to  thwart  their  Spanish  invaders. 

The  events  of  1612  are,  perhaps,  less  well  known  to 
foreigners,  though  not  less  honorable  to  the  Russian 
people.  After  the  death  of  Boris  Godonof,  there 
followed  a  time  of  anarchy  and  trouble,  in  which  the 
newly  equipped  Russian  state  well  nigh  foundered. 

In  1612,  the  elected  Tzar,   Choiski,  and  the  Metro- 


RUSSIAN     CHARACTERISTICS.  85 

politan,  were  both  prisoners  at  Warsaw ;  the  Poles 
held  the  Kremlin  of  Moscow ;  the  Swedes  were  at 
Novgorod,  and  the  chief  nobles  were  nearly  all  bought 
over  by  the  enemy. 

In  this  extremity  the  monks  of  the  vast  monastery 
of  the  Troista,  sent  letters  to  all  the  Russian  cities, 
imploring  aid  for  Moscow.  When  these  letters  were 
read  at  Nisni  Novgorod,  a  butcher  named  Minime 
arose  and  harangued  the  people.  "  If  we  wish  to  save 
the  Empire,  he  said,  we  must  spare  neither  our  per- 
sons, nor  our  families,  nor  our  property." 

The  people  rose  en  masse,  armed  themselves  as  best 
they  could,  and  asked  Prince  Pojarski,  the  wounded 
patriot,  to  take  their  leadership.  The  improvised  army 
marched  against  Moscow,  besieged  the  Kremlin,  and 
forced  the  Polish  garrison  to  capitulate.  King  Sigis- 
mund  came  to  the  rescue  of  his  troops,  but  it  was  too 
late,  and  he  was  forced  to  retreat.  This  was  the  last  of 
foreign  domination  in  Russia. 

It  was  neither  the  Tzar,  nor  the  aristocracy,  nor  the 
army  that  saved  the  country  in  this  emergency.  But 
for  the  energetic  initiative  and  devotion  of  the  com- 
mon people,  Russia  must  have  beco  me  a  Polish  pro- 
vince in  1612. 

Colossal  statues  of  the  butcher  Minime  and  the  Prince 
Pojarski,  are  to  be  seen  to-day  on  the  "  Red  Place  "  of 
Moscow ;  their  descendants,  the  heroes  of  Borodino 
and  Sebastapol,  were  so  numerous  that  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  commemorate  them  all  in  the  same 
way. 


86  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 


CHAPTEK  VII. 


SLAVOPHILS  AND  OCCIDENTALS. 


Peter  the  Great's  draconic  system  of  bringing  Russia, 
nolens  volens,  into  the  pale  of  European  civilization, 
gave  rise  to  a  protesting  party  which  survived  his 
reign,  and  whose  tenets  are  still  professed  by  con- 
servative Slavophils,  equally  opposed  to  Radicals  and 
to  Occidentals,  or  partizans  of  European  importations 
in  politics  and  literature. 

Occidentals  maintain  that  Russia  is  only  one  of  the 
branches  of  the  European  tree,  and  that  her  growth 
has  been  stunted  by  an  unnatural  scission  from  the 
trunk.  Consequently,  they  argue,  there  is  no  salva- 
tion for  her,  except  in  the  transfusion  of  European 
sap.  Slavophils,  on  the  contrary,  maintain  that  Russia 
has  in  her  traditions  and  primitive  institutions  more 
than  enough  to  satisfy  her  present  needs  and  cope  with 
contingent  difficulties  ;  that  all  the  failures  and  defi- 
ciencies of  her  organism  are  attributable  to  the  intro- 
duction of  foreign  and  heterogeneous  elements.  When 
the  German  element  began  to  preponderate  during  the 
reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  Anne,  and  when  the  mania 
for  everything  foreign,  French  in  particular,  reached 
a  climax  under  Catherine  II,  their  hostility  to  all  that 
was  not  Russian,  in  literature  and  in  politics,  became 
a  veritable  fanaticism. 

The   French   Revolution,    (1799,)   the   invasion  of 


SLAVOPHILS     AND     OCCIDENTALS.  87 

Napoleon,  (1812,)  an  4  the  conspiracy  of  the  Decem- 
brists, (1825,)  brought  about  a  reaction  in  the  public 
spirit  which  was  a  great  triumph  for  the  Slavophils. 
They  said  to  their  compatriots  what  Saint  Remi  said 
to  Clovis,  first  Christian  King  of  the  Franks,  at  his 
baptism  :  "  Burn  what  thou  hast  adored,  adore  what 
tliou  hast  burnt."  And  this  the  Russians  proceeded 
to  do  with  all  the  suddenness  and  the  extremes  which 
characterize  the  S.lav  nature.  It  was  the  inauguration 
of  a  new  era  for  Russia,  the  dawning  of  her  long- 
deferred  day  of  Renaissance,  the  tardy  awakening  of 
the  national  genius.  Russian  literature,  ideas,  lan- 
guage and  customs  prevailed,  and  Occidentalism  was 
held  in  suspicion,  to  say  the  least. 

Patriotic  Slavs  loudly  congratulated  themselves  on 
being  Russians.  "  The  nations  of  the  West,"  they 
said,  u  began  to  live  before  us,  and  are  consequently 
"  more  advanced,  but  we  have  nothing  to  envy  ;  we 
"  can  profit  by  their  errors,  and  avoid  those  deep- 
"  rooted  evils  from  which  they  are  suffering.  We  are 
"  young  and  fresh.  We  have  a  great  mission  to  fulfill. 
"  Our  name  is  already  inscribed  in  the  tablets  of  vic- 
"  tory,  and  now  we  have  to  inscribe  our  name  in  the 
"  history  of  the  human  mind.  A  higher  kind  of  vic- 
"  tory — the  victory  of  science,  art  and  faith — awaits 
"  us  on  the  ruins  of  tottering  Europe."  (Prince 
Odefski.) 

Something  must  be  pardoned  to  the  ingenuous  self- 
complacency  of  Slavophilism,  in  consideration  of  the 
services  it  has  rendered.  Under  Slavophil  impulsion, 
the  national  literature  was  saved  from  the  condemna- 
tion of  servile  imitation.  "  Imitator es  servile  pecus" 


88  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Horace  could  have  cast  tins  reproach  in  the  face  of 
nearly  every  Russian  writer  previous  to  1825.  Since 
then  Russian  literature  has  been  emancipated  from 
intellectual  vassalage.  With  Gogol,  Turguenef ,  Dos- 
toiveski  and  Tolstoi'  in  the  vanguard,  a  truly  national 
school  of  writers  has  arisen,  who  have  surprised  the 
world  with  the  force  of  a  genius  which  is  only  one  of 
the  secrets  which  the  Northern  Sphynx  holds  in  re- 
serve for  future  generations. 

The  veil  of  ignorance  and  indifference  which  envel- 
oped the  humble  lives  of  the  long  suffering  masses 
was  removed.  "Literature,  said  the  Slavophils,  has 
"  come  to  look  at  Russia  with  her  own  eyes ;  having 
"  taken  off  her  French  gloves,  she  extends  her  hand  to 
"  the  rude  hard-working  laborer."  More  than  this, 
she  became  the  advocate  and  the  disciple  of  the  poor 
oppressed  toilers.  So  long  ignored,  despised,  trodden 
upon,  the  humble  peasants  became  the  object  of  a 
veritable  apotheosis  and  the  staple  subject  in  literature. 
Their  qualities,  customs,  habits,  and  beliefs  were  dis- 
cussed in  prose  and  verse,  and  with  marked  partiality 
in  general,  though  of  course  here  as  everywhere,  the 
usual  extremes  were  to  be  found. 

The  satirical  humorist  Saltikof,  who  was  an  uncom- 
promising occidental,  complained  with  disgust,  "that 
the  literature  of  the  day  was  permeated  with  an  odor 
of  peasants." 

He  was  one  of  those  who  had  no  faith  in  his  coun- 
try's native  resources,  and  persisted  in  seeing  in  the 
emancipated  serf  only  a  "moujik"  (a  contemptuous 
diminutive  for  mouji  man)  who  could  never  be  any- 
thing but  a  kind  of  beast  of  burden  as  hitherto. 


SLAVOPHILS     AND     OCCIDENTALS.  89 

The  Slavophils  tabooed,  not  only  foreign  literature 
but  also  foreign  political  innovations. 

"Russia  and  the  other  nations  of  Europe  have  de- 
"  veloped  in  circumstances'  in  no  wise  analogous  they 
"  argued,  and  her  situation  cannot  therefore  be  amelio- 
"  rated  by  measures,  which  have  been  so  unsuccessful 
"  among  the  Western  nations  ;  while  Karamsin  under- 
"  took  to  prove,  historically,  that  autocracy  was  the 
"  generating  and  conserving  principle  of  Russia's 
"  greatness."  This  historian  was  one  of  the  principal 
authors  of  the  protocol  that  the  Senate  once  pre- 
sented to  Alexander  the  First,  and  in  which  we  read 
these  words,  "Why  change  our  laws  and  usages,  and 
"  from  whence  come  these  changes  ?  From  the  very 
"  centers  where  reign  revolutions  and  this  license  of 
"  thought  and  teaching,  which,  under  pretext  of  de- 
"  veloping  the  mind  only  rouse  the  passions." 

Fanslavism  is  a  natural  outcome  of  Slavophilism, 
though  some  Slavophils  of  to-day  who  form  what  is 
called  the  "national  party,"  deprecate  all  extension  of 
territory  by  conquest  or  alliance  ;  "Russia  for  the 
Russians,"  say  these  adepts  of  the  Monroe  doctrine. 
As  the  guardians  of  the  national  traditions,  Slavophils 
naturally  maintain  Russia's  secular  claim  to  Constanti- 
nople, founded  on  the  marriage  of  Ivan  the  Great  with 
Sophia  (Maria)  the  rightful  heiress  of  Constantine 
Dragases  its  last  Greek  emperor,  and  they  dream  of  a 
great  Slav  confederation,  of  which  the  Tzar  would  of 
course  have  the  hegemony.  In  1876  Slav  Commit- 
tees fanned  the  public  spirit  into  enthusiasm,  and  made 
the  Bulgarian  war  a  veritable  crusade.  They  are 
said  to  have  furnished  three  million  rubles  and  over 


90  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

four  thousand  volunteers  for  this  cause.  Even  now 
they  continue  to  subsidize  churches  and  schools 
among  the  Slavs  of  the  Balkans,  and  even  among 
Slavs  in  the  United  States. 

Besides  the  Slavophil  and  the  occidental,  there  is  a 
third  school,  which  is  somewhat  nihilistic  in  its  ten- 
dencies. It  maintains  that  there  is  nothing  worth 
preserving  in  any  of  the  existing  institutions,  either 
Slav  or  Occidental  and  it  believes  in  some  new  and 
special  political  revelation  for  Russia,  under  the  in- 
spiration of  which,  an  entirely  unique  edifice  will  be 
raised.  Perhaps  there  may  be  some  latent  truth  in 
this  theory.  It  is  certain  that  Russia  seems  to  labor 
under  a  two-fold  difficulty,  half  Asiatic  and  half  Eu- 
ropean, it  would  appear  as  though  she  could  neither 
appropriate  and  successfully  adapt  European  methods, 
nor  rejuvenate  her  ancient  institutions  and  create  new 
ones  in  harmony  with  her  present  needs. 

The  Mir,  a  time-honored  institution,  whose  origin 
loses  itself  in  the  shadows  of  Russian  pre-historic 
times,  and  which  has  survived  the  deep  inundations 
of  more  than  one  deluge,  seems  to  have  deteriorated 
and  lost  its  efficacy  for  good.  The  Mir,  which  was 
the  only  rampart  of  the  peasant's  dignity,  the  last 
asylum  of  his  self-respect  in  the  days  of  serfdom, 
seems  to  have  become  an  anomalous  tyranny  and  an 
obstacle  to  the  fusion  of  the  emancipated  serfs  with 
the  small  landed  proprietors  with  whom  they  are,, 
legally,  on  an  equal  footing.  The  police  is  even 
obliged  to  interfere  to  defend  the  individual  rights  of 
the  peasants,  when  the  Mir  abuses  its  powers,  as  it 
often  does  in  recalling  members  of  the  village  com- 


SLAVOPHILS     AND     OCCIDENTALS.  91 

mimes,  who  are  exercising  lucrative  trades  in  the  city, 
in  order  to  extort  money  from  them  above  the  usual 
village  taxes. 

Altogether  the  Mir  has  been  a  subject  of  disappoint- 
ment with  optimist  patriots  who  were  proud  of  it  as 
being  their  only  ancient-national  institution.  These 
rural  democracies  are  essentially  Slav,  but  they  are  not 
exclusively  so.  Landed  communism  which  is  their 
principal  feature,  existed  among  the  Sarnoyds  of  the 
North,  the  Tchouvaks,  in  Java,  India,  Mexico,  Peru 
and  China.  The  Mirs  are  relics  of  an  era  long  since 
gone  by,  like  those  intact  insect  forms  found  incrusted 
in  amber  on  the  Baltic  coast,  which  owe  their  preserva- 
tion to  their  isolation,  and  crumble  away  when  ex- 
posed to  exterior  influences. 

According  to  the  terms  of  the  Ukase  of  Emancipa- 
tion, the  peasants  will,  in  twenty  years  hence,  be  en- 
tire proprietors  of  the  lands  for  which  they  now  pay  a 
rental  tax,  and  landed  communism  will  then  either 
cease  altogether  or  become  the  basis  of  a  legalized 
socialism.  Whether  the  Mirs  can  be  remodelled  and 
continue  to  exist  as  auxiliaries  of  the  Zemstvos  or 
provincial  assemblies  of  local  self-government  is  still 
uncertain. 

The  Zemstvos  or  assemblies  of  local  self-govern- 
ment established  by  Alexander  the  Second,  are  in 
some  measure  a  revival  in  permanent  form  of  the 
Zemski  Sobor  or  assembly  of  the  delegates  of  the 
nation,  whom  the  rulers  of  Russia  in  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  summoned  at  critical  mo- 
ments. These  assemblies  were  somewhat  like  the 
States  General  (Trois  Etats)  in  France,  convened  for 


92  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

the  first  time  by  Philipe  le  Bel  against  the  Pope,  and 
for  the  last  time  bj  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  to  conjure 
away  the  French  revolution. 

The  Zemstvos  of  each  province  consists,  (first)  of  an 
assembly  of  deputies  chosen  from  among  themselves  by 
all  classes,  and  meeting  once  a  year ;  and,  (second)  of  a 
permanent  bureau  elected  by  this  assembly  at  its  an- 
nual sessions  arid  renewed  every  three  years.  In  these 
assemblies  rich  merchants  of  the  city,  nobles,  landed 
proprietors  and  moujiks,  with  their  unkempt  beards 
and  sheep  skins,  elbow  each  other  in  a  way  which 
would  be  quite  impracticable  in  any  country  where 
the  distinction  of  classes  is  not  as  in  Russia,  purely 
nominal  and  superficial.  The  attributes  and  powers  of 
the  Zemstvos  are  still  in  a  fluctuating,  undefined  con- 
dition. They  regard  generally  all  that  concerns  the 
material  and  moral  well-being  of  the  respective 
provinces,  taxes,  roads,  bridges,  sanitation,  primary 
education  are  in  their  jurisdiction. 

And  it  must  be  said  to  the  glory  of  the  Russian  na- 
tion that  the  first  use  the  provincial  government  made 
of  the  right  of  self -taxation  was  in  favor  of  popular 
instruction.  In  the  province  of  Viatka  which  has  an 
almost  exclusively  peasant  population,  the  Zemstvos, 
largely  composed  of  moujiks,  consecrated  one-fifth  of 
their  resources  to  popular  instruction.  The  central 
government  seconded  the  efforts  of  the  provinces  by 
reducing  the  period  of  military  service  for  peasants 
who  could  read  and  write,  and  the  result  was  very 
satisfactory.  In  1860  out  of  one  hundred  recruits 
only  two  could  read,  while  in  1870  eleven  per  cent, 
was  the  average,  and  since  then  the  ratio  has  steadily 


SLAVOPHILS     AND     OCCIDENTALS.  93 

increased.  In  the  course  of  a  single  year  (1879,)  and 
immediately  after  the  drain  of  the  Bulgarian  war,  the 
State  devoted  sixteen  million  two  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  rubles  for  the  department  of  public  instruc- 
tion. 

But  still  it  must  bs  admitted  that  the  combined 
efforts  of  the  central  government  and  of  the  Zemstvos 
have  not  yet  succeeded  in  so  fully  covering  their  vast 
territory  with  primary  schools  and  colleges,  that  cor- 
respondents and  travellers  of  the  Saxon  and  Teutonic 
races  cannot  step  in  and  lament  over  the  deplorable 
absence  of  educational  institutions  in  rural  districts. 
"  Rome  was  not  built  in  a  day,"  nor  can  a  nation  sup- 
plement the  deficiencies  of  centuries  in  a  score  of 
years. 

The  Zemstvos  may,  at  any  moment  of  emer^ency,be 
transformed  into  an  assembly  of  national  self-govern- 
ment, and  very  little  would  be  required  to  effect  the  me- 
tamorphosis. Every  one  knows  and  feels  this,  and  the 
autocrats  being  human,  are  naturally  a  little  suscepti- 
ble, with  regard  to  these  institutions,  whicl^  are  pro- 
bably the  future  organs  of  national  autonomy. 

They  have  sometimes  shown  their  susceptibility,  by 
reminding  the  Zemstvos  that  their  administration  is 
strictly  confined  to  local  interests,  and  that  they  have 
not  even  the  right  to  concert  together  for  the  mutual 
benefit  of  contiguous  provinces.  Nevertheless,  Alex- 
ander II  and  Alexander  III,  have,  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  summoned  members  of  different  Zemstvos 
to  confer  with  the  Council  of  State  at  Saint  Peters- 
burg, or  with  some  special  commission,  on  subjects  of 
grave  interest  for  the  whole  country.  These  members. 


94  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

were,  it  is  true,  only  called  "  experts,"  and  were  chosen 
by  the  Tzar  himself. 

If  they  were  chosen  and  deputed  by  the  Zernstvos, 
writh  recognized  authority,  to  discuss  and  legislate  for 
their  constituents,  they  would  be  neither  more  nor  less 
than  members  of  Congress  and  Senators,  and  Russia 
would  have  a  representative  government. 

The  Zemstvos,  in  spite  of  many  defects  and  short- 
comings, due  to  inexperience  and  other  limitations, 
are  favorably  viewed  by  all  parties  in  Russia ;  not 
only  by  Occidentals  and  Radicals,  but  also  by  Slavo- 
phils, devoted  to  autocracy.  The  latter  have  no 
thought  of  diminishing  the  Czar's  authority ;  on  the 
contrary,  they  see  in  local  self-government  a  means  of 
placing  themselves  under  his  immediate  control,  with- 
out the  hateful  intermediary  of  the  bureaucrats,  whose 
mal-administration,  they  say,  casts  a  slur  on  autocracy. 

More  autocracy  and  less  bureaucracy  is  the  general 
demand.  The  Slavophils  do  not  seem  to  realize  that 
if  neither  the  powers  of  the  Zemstvos  nor  those  of  the 
throne  are  legally  defined,  a  conflict  between  these 
two  jurisdictions  may  arise,  sooner  or  later. 

In  the  meantime  the  nation  is  serving  a  much 
needed  apprenticeship  in  the  art  of  self-government, 
and  the  Zemstvos,  will,  most  probably,  be  the  basis  of 
Russia's  new  political  structure. 

Since  the  accession  of  Alexander  III,  all  parties  are 
in  a  quiescent  state,  at  least  on  the  surface.  The 
nation  has  given  itself  up  to  self -recollection  and  recupe- 
ration. Perhaps  in  this  interval  of  silence  and  quiet, 
some  new  and  eclectic  system  of  government  may  be 
devised,  in  which  "  the  wolf  and  the  lamb  shall  lie 


SLAVOPHILS     AND     OCCIDENTALS.  95 

down  together  ;"  autocracy  and  autonomy  work  liand 
in  hand  for  the  common  weal.  Russians  have  so  many 
surprises  and  contradictions  in  their  exuberant  nature, 
that  there  seems  no  reason  why  they  should  not  dis- 
cover, in  their  untold  resources,  some  secret  alchemy, 
whereby  these  antithetic  elements  may  be  made  to 
combine.  Autocracy  seems  to  be  an  unmitigated  evil, 
utterly  incompatible  with  modern  liberties.  Strychnine 
and  arsenic,  too,  were  considered,  until  recently,  to  be 
nothing  but  deadly  poisons,  yet  modern  science  has 
converted  them  into  most  valuable  agents  for  man's 
well-being. 

Conceptions  of  freedom,  that  vaguest  of  words,  are 
not  exempt  from  the  universal  law  of  change :  nor 
are  they  the  same  among  all  nations.  To  have  the 
right  to  govern  ourselves  is,  in  general,  the  European's 
idea  of  liberty,  while  for  Asiatics,  and  semi- Asiatic 
nations,  liberty  consists  in  a  right  to  be  governed. 
And  Carlyle  declares  that  "the  everlasting  privilege" 
"  which  fools  have  of  being  led  by  the  wise,  is  one 
"  of  the  first  "  rights  of  man." 

How  far  should  ignorant  majorities  be  guided  and 
governed  by  wise  minorities  ?  To  what  extent  should 
society  be  protected  against  knaves,  and  fools  pro- 
tected against  themselves?  Shall  the  sharp-witted 
floater  of  fraudulent  schemes,  who  overreaches  and 
defrauds  his  unwary  neighbors,  while  keeping  within 
the  law,  be  restrained  by  penal  codes,  as  well  as  the 
brawny  foot-pad  who  knocks  down  his  puny  fellow- 
citizen  and  filches  his  purse  ? 

These  are  some  of  the  knotty  questions  which  con- 
front the  statesman  in  countries  where  every  man  is 


96  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

left  "  to  scramble  for  himself,"  and  where  the  theory, 
"  that  the  best  government  is  the  government  that 
governs  the  least,"  has  been  amply  tested.  If  these 
questions  are  not  answered  in  some  satisfactory  manner, 
we  may  one  day  witness  revolutions  of  a  novel  char- 
acter. Nations  revolting,  not,  as  in  former  times, 
against  tyrants,  who  govern  too  much,  but  against 
governments,  that  do  not  govern  at  all. 

Experience  has  shown,  that  in  the  struggle  of  un- 
limited competition,  fraudulent  trusts  and  overpowering 
monopolies  may  be  generated  by  the  entire  absence  of 
State  intervention.  Even  equality  before  the  law  may 
become  a  snare  for  the  weak,  for,  when  those  who  are 
not  equals  are  treated  as  such,  the  weaker  almost  in_ 
variably  succumbs  to  the  stronger ;  the  poorer  to  the 
richer.  In  a  word,  it  is  on  the  inferior  that  the  burden 
of  inequality  falls. 

Mr.  Froude  declares  that,  "  in  England  swindling 
"  has  grown  to  a  point  where  the  political  economist 
"  preaches  patience  unsuccessfully — that  government 
"  will  have  to  take  up  again  its  abandoned  functions, 
"  and  will  understand  that  the  cause  and  meaning  of 
"  its  existence  is  the  discovery  and  the  enforcement  of 
"  the  elementary  rules  of  right  and  wrong."  (P.  276, 
You  II,  Short  Studies.)  Even  "  the  nation  that  has 
"  practiced  democracy  most  successfully  is  beginning 
"  to  find  that  the  very  freedom  of  association  which 
"  men  sought  to  secure  by  law  may,  under  the  shelter 
"  of  the  law,  ripen  into  a  new  form  of  tyranny ;"  and 
"  that  after  having  shaken  off  the  yoke  of  one,  a 
"  nation  may  fall  beneath  the  yoke  of  a  crushing 
"  majority.  The  hand  of  the  government  is  begin- 


SLAVOPHILS     AND     OCCIDENTALS.  97 

"  ning  to  be  invoked  in  America  for  many  purposes 
"  of  common  utility,  and  with  which  government  did 
"  not  interfere."  (Bryce's  American  Commonwealth.) 

And  yet  in  a  co-operative  age  like  ours,  where 
everything  of  any  magnitude  must  be  accomplished 
by  association,  trusts  and  combinations  and  syndicates 
are  not  evils,  necessarily.  But  it  is  more  than  ever 
incumbent  on  governments  to  accomplish  their  high 
mission,  of  giving  full  scope  to  collectivity  while  safe- 
guarding the  rights  of  individualism.  The  only  ques- 
tion is,  by  what  form  of  government  can  these  condi- 
tions of  ideal  socialism  be  fulfilled.  Anarchy  cannot 
do  it,  cela  va  sans  dire. 

Every  form  of  government  supposes  an  authority 
supreme,  and  infallible,  de  facto,  if  not,  dejure,  from 
which  there  is  no  appeal.  Whether  this  authority  or 
sovereignty  be  vested  in  one  man  like  the  autocrat  of 
all  the  Russias,  or  in  two  Houses  of  Parliament,  or 
in  a  Supreme  Court,  does  not  alter  the  fact,  that  prac- 
tical infallibility  is  a  sine  qua  nan  of  any,  and  every 
form  of  government.  Now  is  there  any  valid  reason 
why  it  is  impossible  for  the  rights  of  collectivity  and 
of  individualism  to  exist  where  the  Supreme  Tribunal 
is  composed  of  one,  or  why  they  should  be  best  se- 
cured, when  it  is  composed  of  several  ? 

Is  not  the  Autocrat  who  has  nothing  to  gain  and 
nothing  to  lose,  isolated  on  the  apex  of  the  social  pyra- 
mid, as  he  is  in  Russia,  quite  as  likely  to  be  wise  and 
impartial,  as  men,  who,  are  not  always  clear  sighted 
and  inaccessible,  because  they  have  a  passion  or  an  am- 
bition to  gratify,  whether  it  be  a  lofty  or  a  sordid  one 
matters  little.  I  have  not  the  presumption  to  prefer 


9-8  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

one  form  of  government  to  another.  "  Aristocrat, 
autocrat,  democrat !  What  care  I  ? "  (Tennyson.)  Or- 
ganisms, whether  political  or  social  or  physical,  must 
not  be  judged  subjectively,  or  in  the  abstract,  but  in 
view  of  the  environment  and  conditions  in  which  they 
exercise  their  functions  :  and  the  best  form  of  govern- 
ment is  the  government  that  best  succeeds  in  fulfilling 
the  ends  of  government. 

I  only  wish  to  suggest  that  autocracy  is  not,  per- 
haps, wholly  or  necessarily  incompatible  with  the 
highest  forms  of  autonomy,  with  ideal  socialism  in 
other  words,  and,  that  in  Slavophilism  that  clings  to 
autocracy  while  pleading  for  autonomy,  there  may  be 
more  sanity  and  consistency,  than  appear  on  the 
surface. 

The  Russians,  with  their  paternal  government,  to 
which  they  cling  in  spite  of  the  railleries  of  the  world, 
are  not,  perhaps,  so  very  far  from  the  charming  Utopia 
which  Mr.  Ed.  Bellamy  has  ingeniously  conceived, 
and  so  admirably  described  to  thousands  of  captivated 
readers.  "  Looking  Backwards  "  was  a  cry  from  the 
author's  heart,  and  such  cries  never  fail  to  waken  respon- 
sive echoes.  Critics  may  cavil  and  pick  holes  in  his 
system,  and  put  in  indignant  pleas  for  the  effaced  dig- 
nity of  individualism,  but  humanity  believeth  all 
things,  hopeth  all  things,  and  hopes  against  hope  that, 
somehow,  the  rough  places  will  be  made  smooth  and 
the  appalling  inequalities  of  life  be  evened  up. 
"Writers  (I  mean  writers  who  are  thinkers  as  well  as 
writers),  are  always  the  seers  of  their  generation,  and 
more  or  less  endowed  with  the  soul  of  prophesy.  And 
if  Mr.  Bellamy's  Utopia  of  ideal  socialism  be  some- 


SLAVOPHILS     AND     OCCIDENTALS.  99 

thing  more  than  a  beautiful  wild  dream,  no  country 
would  furnish  a  more  favorable  field  for  the  experi- 
ment than  Russia.  Communism  and  socialism  have 
been  practiced  there  for  centuries,  and  the  institution 
of  a  system,  such  as  he  describes,  would  have  nothing 
shocking  or  preposterous  to  the  bulk  of  the  Russian 
population.  There  are  no  adamantine  prejudices  to 
be  overcome  there,  no  class  privileges  and  traditions 
to  be  laid  aside,  and  Russians,  of  all  classes,  from  the 
Czar  downward,  are  by  instinct  essentially  and  funda- 
mentally democratic  in  spite  of  apparent  barriers,  dis- 
tinctions and  conventionalities. 

Some  day,  perhaps,  when  the  institutions  of  mod- 
ern liberalism  have  been  found  wanting,  and  excess  of 
freedom  has  proved  destructive  of  freedom,  the  much 
maligned,  contemned  Russian  Slavs  may  have  a  few 
suggestions  to  make  to  the  world  on  the  subject  of 
national  polity. 

All  the  nations  of  Europe  have  had  their  share  in 
the  work  of  civilization,  and  played  their  part  with 
with  more  or  less  distinction.  Not  so  Russia.  Her 
role  in  the.  past  did  not  seem  to  be  a  more  dignified 
one  than  that  of  the  Ural  Mountains.  For  many 
centuries,  her  only  reason  for  existing,  apparently, 
was  to  act  as  a  barrier  against  Asiatic  invasions,  to  be 
a  kind  of  buffer  State,  providentially  designed  to  pre- 
serve Europe  from  colliding  with  the  barbarous  Orient, 
and  being  again  deluged  by  hordes  like  those  who 
swept  away  the  Roman  civilization.  Later  on,  Russia 
seemed  a  sort  of  watch  dog,  charged  to  worry  the 
Turk  and  .keep  him  at  bay,  lest  he  should  again  molest 
and  invade  Europe,  as  in  the  days  of  Charles  Martel. 


100  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

The  history  of  Russia,  hitherto,  has  only  been  the 
history  of  the  Russian  State,  and  the  people  have  been, 
so  to  speak,  the  devoted  votaries  over  whom  this  jug- 
gernaut has  rolled  in  its  progress  from  century  to  cen- 
tury. But  now  that  Russia  has  lived  down  the  past, 
now  that  she  has  conquered  an  unassailable  position, 
and  commands  the  respect  and  the  consideration,  even 
of  her  enemies,  the  immolation  of  these  self-sacrificing 
millions  is  no  longer  needed,  and  it  is  time  that  they 
should  reap  the  fruits  of  their  long  abnegation. 

This  was  the  inspiration  to  which  was  due  the  move- 
ment of  "  peasantism,"  to  which  I  alluded  at  the  be- 
ginning of  this  chapter,  and  of  which  the  "  going  to 
the  people  "  of  the  Nihilists,  was  only  a  spurious  imi- 
tation. How  the  greatest  good  of  these  devoted 
masses  can  be  best  obtained,  is  a  serious  problem  that 
has  occupied  Tzars  and  patriots  since  fifty  years,  and  is 
still  far  from  being  solved. 

One  of  the  distinctive  traits  of  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, sociology  and  science,  is  the  importance  attached 
to  minimum  causes. 

In  physiology,  says  Melchior  de  Yogue,  our  century 
may  be  called  the  era  of  microbes,  for  scientists  seem 
to  see  a  "  germ  "  in  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to,  and 
in  political  economy,  it  is  the  exaltation  of  the  lowly, 
the  exaltavit  humiles  of  the  Evangel. 

The  chronicler  of  the  past  recorded  the  lives  and 
acts  of  great  personages,  who  made  war  and  peace, 
and  changed  the  face  of  empires,  ad  libitum.  But,  to 
weave  the  .warp  of  history,  the  writer  of  the  future, 
will  have  to  follow  the  threads  of  popular  aspirations 
and  movements.  This  new  phase  of  human  progress, 


SLAVOPHILS     AND     OCCIDENTALS.  101 

that  disconcerts  and  alarms  conservatives  in  religion 
and  in  politics,  is,  however,  the  inevitable  result  of  the 
fermentation  of  the  evangelical  leaven,  the  last  analy- 
sis of  the  Gospel  preached-  to  the  poor  and  the  lowly, 
nineteen  centuries  ago,  and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee 
to  what  transformations  it  may  lead,  not  in  Russia 
only,  but  all  over  the  world. 

The  Nihilist  chief,  Bokounine,  once  said,  that  "  it 
was  the  peasantry  who  carried  the  whole  Russian  Em- 
pire on  their  backs,  and  that  the  moment  they  found 
it  out,  down  would  come  the  whole  concern."  He,  no 
doubt,  sincerely  hoped  it  might  be  so,  but  it  is  not 
equally  sure  that  his  prognostics  will  be  realized. 

It  is  true  that  the  Russians  have  been,  hitherto,  only 
what  circumstances  have  made  them,  and  that  ere 
long  they  will  be  themselves.  But  though  poor  theo- 
logians, and  still  poorer  politicians,  they  are  a  nation 
of  humble  toilers,  reared  in  the  school  of  adversity, 
the  best  of  training  schools. 

For  centuries  they  have  ingloriously  and  unconsci- 
ously practiced  some  of  the  fundamental  virtues  of 
Christianity,  and  if  they  are  only  left  to  themselves, 
they  will  peacefully  unravel  the  difficulties  which  red- 
handed  Nihilists  are  always  trying  to  explode  with 
dynamite. 


102  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  ROMANOFFS  AND  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  MOVEMENT. 


After  the  death  of  Boris  Godonof  's  son,  the  usur- 
pation of  Dimitri  and  the  critical  times  to  which  allu- 
sion has  been  made,  the  Romanoffs,  descended  from 
Rurick  by  the  female  branch,  were  called  to  the  throne, 
in  the  person  of  the  young  Prince,  Michael,  who  was 
unanimously  elected  by  the  Zemski  Sobor,  or  National 
Assembly.  When  his  grandson,  Peter  the  Great,  be- 
gan his  eventful  reign  in  1682,  the  country,  in  spite  of 
its  recent  initiation  into  European  politics,  was  steadily 
drifting  back  into  Oriental  traditions,  and  would,  ere 
long,  have  sunk  into  the  non-progressive  inertia  of 
Eastern  nations,  if  the  new  Czar  had  not  sternly  re- 
solved that,  in  spite  of  all  obstacles,  Russia  should 
henceforth  be  European  and  progressive.  Though 
Peter  the  Great  was  unremitting  in  his  labors  for  the 
improvement  and  aggrandisement  of  Russia,  he  was 
by  no  means  a  judicious  legislator.  He  piled  upon  the 
nation  a  mass  of  incongruous  laws  and  statutes,  ex- 
tracted almost  verbatim  from  foreign  codes,  and  which 
were  of  no  real  benefit  to  the  country,  owing  to  their 
multiplicity  and  inadaptability. 

~Nor  were  the  hands  to  run.  the  cumberous  govern- 
mental machine  easily  found.  They,  too,  had  to  be 
imported.  For  Russia,  it  must  be  remembered,  had, 
for  centuries,  been  administered  like  a  private  rural  es- 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENT.  103 

tate,  the  governors  acting  as  farm  intendants  ;  so  that 
state  craft  and  politics  were  almost  occult  sciences,  and 
numbered  few  adepts. 

Thus  began  the  bureaucratic  system  a  Vallemand, 
which  was  a  fruitful  source  of  evils,  and  placed  the 
nation  at  variance  with  itself  during  more  than  two 
hundred  years.  For,  the  ponderous  formalities  of 
German  bureaucracy  are  wholly  alien  and  profoundly 
antipathetic  to  the  rough  and  ready  of  the  Slav  na- 
ture, to  which  martial  law  and  summary  justice,  or 
even  injustice  are .  far  more  comprehensible  and  con- 
genial. 

At  first,  only  Peter  the  Great  and  his  immediate 
followers  abjured  Orientalism  and  adopted  Western 
ideas,  customs,  dress  and  language.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, the  provincial  nobles  and  the  official  classes 
yielded  to  the  impulsion  given  ;  but  the  lower  strata  of 
the  nation,  including  thirty  or  forty  million  serfs,  ut- 
terly removed  from  foreign  influences,  remained  pro- 
foundly Oriental,  and  for  nearly  two  centuries  Russia 
presented  a  singular  spectacle  of  duality.  A  very  small 
minority,  among  whom  foreign  customs,  ideas  and 
language  prevailed,  who  were  often  foreigners  them- 
selves, presided  over  the  destinies  of  the  immense 
masses,  of  whose  needs  and  desires  they  were  wholly 
ignorant,  and  to  whose  well  being  they  were  supremely 
indifferent. 

Since  the  consolidation  of  Muscovite  autocracy, 
there  have  been  no  civil  wars  of  any  consequence  in 
Russia,  and  as  her  foreign  campaigns,  even  when  un- 
successful, have  always  had  a  civilizing  influence,  short 
sighted  people  have  concluded  that,  because  certain 


SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

disastrous  wars  were  followed  by  important  reforms, 
these  things  must  necessarily  stand  to  each  other  in 
the  relation  of  cause  and  effect.  Post  hoc  ergo.  But 
this  is  true,  only,  in  so  much  that  war  brought  into 
play  factors  that  led  to  radical  changes.  Not  the  least 
important  of  these  factors  was  the  long  forgotten  sen- 
timent of  national  brotherhood. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  national  fusion  began  on  the 
battle  field,  in  the  struggle  against  the  Corsican  in- 
vader, Bonaparte.  When  thousands  of  nobles  and 
peasants  fell  side  by  side  at  Borodino,  Beresina  and 
Moscow,  (1812)  in  defence  of  their  common  father- 
land, the  dormant  sentiment  of  national  fraternity 
awoke ;  the  injustice  of  the  existing  state  of  affairs 
appeared  in  all  its  revolting  reality,  and  the  indigna- 
tion it  aroused  led  to  much  needed  reforms,  to  the 
emancipation  of  the  serfs  in  particular. 

As  early  as  1553,  Ivan  IY  had  introduced  printing 
into  Russia ;  but  for  many  years  to  come  there  was  not 
much  to  print.  Writers  were  scarce,  and  readers  were 
still  more  so.  Existence  itself  was  too  precarious  and 
laborious,  for  the  people  to  have  much  time  or  inter- 
est to  bestow  upon  intellectual  culture.  Even  in 
the  reign  of  Catherine  II  it  was  a  general  complaint 
that  parents  would  not  send  their  children  to  school. 
And  primary  education  was  not  made  obligatory  in 
Russia,  as  has  since  been  done  in  other  countries.  It 
was  Peter  the  Great  who  established  the  first  Academy 
of  Science  arid  Normal  Schools  in  Russia.  The  Em- 
press Elizabeth  established  preparatory  schools,  and  at 
Moscow  the  first  Russian  University,  where,  as  an  in- 
centive to  students  of  the  poorer  classes,  a  certain 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENT.  105 

number  were  admitted  gratis,  and  all  who  graduated 
were  entitled  to  wear  the  sword,  which  was  the  di»r 
tinctive  badge  of  nobility. 

After  Peter  the  Great,  the  sovereigns  who  are  spe- 
cially entitled  to  be  called  Kef  ormers  are  Catherine  II 
and  Alexander  II. 

Catherine  was  a  disciple  of  Montesquieu,  Jean 
Jaques  Rosseau,  Voltaire  and  the  French  philosophers 
in  general.  Her  views  were  most  liberal  and  tolerant, 
and  her  tastes  artistic  and  literary.  It  is  impossible 
to  say  what  she  might  have  accomplished,  if  the  French 
Revolution  (17§9)  had  not  caused  a  sudden  veering  in 
her  liberal  views  and  policy.  Many  of  the  reforms  of 
Catherine  were  not  of  much  more  practical  benefit 
than  those  of  Peter  the  Great,  but  she  accomplished 
an  useful  work  when  she  organized  the  different  prov- 
inces, with  their  respective  municipalities.  It  was  a 
preparatory  step  in  the  way  of  local  self-government. 

Catherine  the  Second  established  Communal  Schools 
in  all  the  chief  towns,  as  well  as  Technical  Schools  in 
many  places.  In  imitation  of  Madame  de  Maintenon's 
St.  Cyr,  she  also  endowed  an  Institution  for  the  edu- 
cation of  orphans  of  noble  birth  ;  and  a  little  later  her 
daughter-in-law,  the  mother  of  Alexander  I,  made 
similar  establishments  for  the  humbler  ranks  of  so- 
ciety. 

The  first  law  schools,  it  must  be  said,  were  a  com- 
plete failure.  They  had  to  be  closed  for  want  of 
students,  as  the  Russians  do  not  seem  to  have  taken 
more  kindly  to  law,  than  they  have  done  to  politics. 

Alexander  I  (1801  to  1825)  inaugurated  a  liberal 
policy  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign.  He  projected 


106  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

the  emancipation  of  the  serfs  and  a  constitutional  gov- 
ernment for  Poland ;  but  both  these  projects  were 
unrealizable  at  the  time,  and  many  disappointments 
and  disillusions  darkened  the  latter  part  of  his  reign, 
rendering  him  somber,  suspicious  and  despotic. 

Since  the  reign  of  Catherine  II  the  education  of 
the  upper  classes  had  been  confided  entirely  to  foreign- 
ers, chiefly  to  the  Jesuits,  to  whom  the  Czarina  had 
given  asylum  when  they  were  expulsed  from  France, 
through  the  influence  of  the  Duke  de  Choiseul  and 
Madame  de  Pompadour  over  Louis  XV.  Foreign  in- 
tercourse was  facilitated  and  encouraged,  the  rich 
always  sending  their  sons  abroad  to  complete  their 
education,  as  the  national  institutions  were  insufficient 
and  incomplete.  Even  the  government  used  to  send 
many  students  to  the  German  Universities,  which 
then,  even  more  than  now,  were  hotbeds  of  Socialism, 
thus  preparing  for  itself  the  eternal  surprise  of  the 
hen  that  hatches  a  brood  of  goslings,  when  a  gen- 
eration of  Nihilists  cropped  up  some  years  later. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  there 
was  a  great  penury  of  writers  in  Russia,  and  the  Free 
Masons  did  their  best  to  serve  the  cause  of  literature 
by  establishing  what  was  called  a  "  Typographical 
Society."  Every  manuscript,  prose,  verse,  translation 
or  composition,  was  bought  by  this  Society  at  so  much 
a  page,  and  quite  irrespective  of  merit,  so  that  no 
one  should  be  discouraged,  even  if  his  pages  did  find 
their  way  into  the  fire  very  soon.  The  Masons  also  un- 
dertook the  education  of  impecunious  youths  of  literary 
promise.  Karamsin,  who  may  be  called  the  father  of 
Russian  history,  was  one  of  their  proteges. 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENT.  107 

The  Lodges,  however,  were  gradually  becoming 
political  centers.  In  1815  they  organized,  in  imitation 
of  the  German  Tungunbund,  a  Society  called  the 
"  Alliance  of  Beneficence."  Here  was  fostered  the 
Liberal  Conspiracy  of  1825,  Avhich  was  so  rudely 
crushed.  This  first  revolutionary  movement  differed 
from  that  of  1848,  being  entirely  aristocratic,  and  led 
by  Russian  Lafayettes,  Mirabeaus  and  Philip  Egalites. 

These  well-intentioned  political  theorists  wished  to 
embellish  their  massive  country  with  charters,  ros- 
trums and  constitutions,  a  la  mode  de  Paris  and  of 
London,  without  having  first  well  ascertained  if  Eussia 
were  yet  able,  or  would  ever  be  able,  to  use  them. 
"  My  greatest  fault,"  said  Pestel,  one  of  the  ringlead- 
ers of  that  insurrection,  "  was  having  tried  to  reap 
without  having  ploughed  and  sown." 

With  Nicholas  I  (1825  to  1855)  Russia  put  on  her 
iron  mask,  and  wore  it  for  many  years.  Every  source 
seemed  frozen,  every  current  petrified.  It  was 
the  reign  of  "  Censorial  Terror."  ISTo  book,  recent  or 
ancient,  Russian  or  foreign,  could  circulate  without  the 
visa  of  the  Censor.  "  A  dark  cloud  weighed  over 
what  was  then  called  the  i  administration  of  science  and 
literature,'  "  said  the  critic  Biclinski.  "  Every  writer 
is  a  bear  who  ought  to  be  kept  in  chains,"  was  the 
maxim  in  vogue.  History  was  taught  somewhat  in 
the  spirit  of  the  French  professor,  who  informed  his 
young  public  "  That  the  Marquis  de  Bonaparte,  G-en- 
eralisimo  of  his  Majesty  Louis  XVIII,  entered  Vi- 
enna in  triumph,"  etc.,  and  like  the  word  "  King," 
during  the  French  "Reign  of  Terror,"  the  word 
Liberty  was  interdicted  and  its  employment  considered 


108  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

a  treasonable  offence.  It  was  not  even  allowed  to 
hint  that  Ivan  the  Terrible  was  a  tyrant.  There  were 
but  seven  newspapers  at  this  time,  and  they  were 
reduced  to  entire  nullity,  being  simple  records  of  in- 
significant daily  events. 

Yet  Nicholas  was  a  sincere  patriot,  a  liberal  minded, 
cultivated  gentleman  in  the  highest  sense  of  the 
word,  and  truly  anxious  to  promote  the  national  wel- 
fare. Unfortunately  his  theory  was  that  this  must 
be  done  without  the  co-operation  of  the  people, 
and  by  removing  them  entirely  from  foreign  contact. 
He  surrounded  them,  therefore,  with  a  sanitary  cordon 
as  it  were,  in  order  to  preserve  them  from  the  conta- 
gion of  Western  Europe.  The  Czar  Nicholas  has 
been  called  the  Quixote  of  autocracy,  and  indeed  his 
whole  reign  was  a  hopeless  struggle,  at  home  and 
abroad,  with  the  revolutionary  spirit  and  the  irrepres- 
sible elaborations  of  the  human  mind. 

In  spite  of  all  his  precautions,  the  imported  germs 
of  revolt  were  developing  in  secret.  Under  cover  of 
metaphysical  discussions,  the  students,  who  had  been 
educated  abroad,  initiated  their  compatriots  into  the 
radicalism  of  Hegel,  Proudhon,  St.  Simon,  and  others. 
Enigmatical  commentaries  of  Feuerbach  and  Faust 
circulated  unmolested  by  the  Censors,  while  seditious 
novels,  like  those  of  Herzen  and  Saltikof,  enjoyed 
the  same  immunity. 

Emboldened  by  their  success,  Petrachevaky  with 
other  collaborators,  who  became  victims  of  the  con- 
spiracy of  1848,  which  bears  his  name,  devised  a 
"  Dictionary  of  foreign  terms,"  in  imitation  of  the 
Encyclopedia,  by  which  Voltaire,  Diderot,  D'Alem- 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENT.  109 

bert,  ("the  Encyclopedists")  propagated  their  sub- 
versive ideas  and  prepared  the  French  He  volution. 

The  reunions  of  these  conspirators  had  been  fre- 
quented during  two  years,  before  they  were  tracked 
by  the  police  to  whom  they  were  betrayed,  by  one  of 
the  members.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the 
Russian  police  is  Argus-eyed  and  Briareus  armed,  and 
that  like  Asmodeus,  in  Gil  Bias,  it  is  always  plunging 
inquisitorial  glances  into  the  lives  of  inoffensive  citi- 
zens, and  troubling  peaceful  families  with  domiciliary 
visits.  But,  in  reality,  the  number  of  those  who  are 
under  its  surveillance  is  relatively  very  small  indeed  ; 
and  as  a  body,  this  police  is  the  most  inefficient  in  the 
world.  They  are  utterly  wanting  in  the  tact,  acuteness 
and  activity  which  distinguish  the  German  and  French 
police,  and  the  growth  of  Nihilism  was  no  doubt 
attributable  to  their  incapacity,  and  even  to  their 
venal  complicity  in  some  cases.  Bismarck  always 
knew  exactly  where  and  when  to  strike  the  German 
Socialists  and  disconcert  all  their  well  laid  schemes  ; 
but  the  Russian  police  are  generally  the  last  to  discover 
a  plot,  and  when  they  do  so,  it  is  often  by  some  happy 
chance. 

Some  of  these  conspirators  in  1848  were  only  fol- 
lowers of  the  Decembrists  (of  1825),  and  sought 
nothing  but  constitutional  reforms.  Others  were 
precocious  Nihilists  of  the  worst  type,  whose  object 
was  to  demolish  the  whole  social  editice,  family  prop- 
erty, throne,  altar — nothing  was  to  be  left  standing. 

The  expulsion  of  the  House  of  Bourbon,  (1848) 
whom  Alexander  the  First  and  the  allied  sovereigns 
had  reinstated  on  the  throne  of  France,  had  just  dis- 


110  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

turbed  the  equanimity  of,  Europe,  and  this  was  an 
additional  reason  for  reinforcing  the  system  of  repres- 
sion, which  continued  until  the  accession  of  Alexander 
the  Second  (1855.)  Many  innocent  victims  were 
involved  in  the  conspiracy  of  Petrachevsky.  The 
novelist,  Dostoievski,  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life, 
and  was  exiled  for  ten  years  to  Siberia,  where  he 
wrote  his  touching  "  Reminicences  of  the  House  of 
the  Dead." 

Saltikof  and  Turguenef ,  accused  of  connivance,  were 
banished  from  Saint  Petersburg ;  even  Slavophils, 
devoted  to  autocracy,  were  not  spared.  Chamekof 
'was  forbidden  to  read  his  verses,  "  except  to  his 
mother,"  and  Assakotf,  the  great  Panslavist  himself, 
was  under  surveillance. 

Alexander  the  Second  (1855  to  1881)  was  the  most 
liberal  minded  and  generous  of  Russian  sovereigns, 
but  he  was  irresolute  and  inconsistent.  He  either 
could  not,  or  would  not,  foresee  the  consequences  of 
his  acts  and  abide  by  them.  The  emancipation  of  the 
serfs,  the  institution  of  the  Zemstvos  or  assemblies  of 
provincial  self-government,  the  establishment  of  local 
tribunals,  of  trial  by  jury  and  other  reforms,  succeeded 
each  other  too  rapidly  to  mature  and  become  really  ben- 
eficial to  the  country.  The  nobles  were  at  first  ardent 
partizans  of  these  reforms.  They  disputed  for  the  honor 
of  forming  part  of  the  Zemstvos,  where  they  sat  side 
by  side  with  their  recently  liberated  serfs,  of  whose 
labor  they  had  willingly  deprived  themselves,  and 
whose  condition  they  sincerely  sought  to  ameliorate. 

Unfortunately,  collisions  with  State  functionaries 
and  other  difficulties,  soon  cooled  their  ardor.  The 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENT.          Ill 

Slav  nature,  as  we  have  remarked  elsewhere,  has  an 
unhappy  facility  of  passing  abruptly  from  one  extreme 
to  the  other,  like  the  Russian  climate.  Excessive  dis- 
couragement succeeded  unbounded  confidence  and 
hopefulness.  The  nobles  sulked  and  withdrew  their 
co-operation,  leaving  all  in  disorder  and  incomplete- 
ness. 

Instead  of  striving  to  repair  the  breach,  the  liberals, 
with  their  brains  teeming  with  ideas  borrowed  from 
the  German  socialists,  or  picked  up  promiscuously 
during  their  foreign  travels,  thought  the  favorable 
moment  was  at  last  come  to  realize  their  ill-defined 
theories,  and  they  clamored  indefinitely  for  more 
liberties,  more  reforms.  Their  state  of  mind  was 
very  much  like  that  of  a  people  of  whom  an  English 
statesman  said :  "  They  don't  know  what  they  want 
and  they  will  never  be  satisfied  until  they  get  it." 

There  are,  moreover,  so  many  shades  of  opinion 
among  them,  so  little  coherence  in  their  programmes, 
that  if  half  the  liberals  obtained  all  they  desire,  the 
other  half  would  be  doubly  discontented, 

Their  action  is  suspended  for  the  time  being  by  the 
rigorous  conservatism  which  reigns  during  the  present 
administration,  and  they  will  no  doubt  utilize  their 
enforced  inactivity  to  recast  and  mature  projects  of 
reform,  adapted  to  the  actual  needs  of  the  country, 
and  become,  in  the  future,  the  pillars  of  the  new  edi- 
fice, whose  foundations  are  slowly  and  surely  rising, 
though  they  do  not  yet  appear  above  the  surface. 
For  Russia  is  inevitably  gliding  with  the  current  of 
civilization  and  liberty,  though  the  progress  of  so 
gigantic  a  raft  is  necessarily  imperceptible.  Sooner 


112  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

or  later,  the  accelerated  movement  will  be  felt,  and  in 
a  few  years  the  work  of  centuries  will  be  accomplished, 
as  has  already  been  the  case  with  Russian  literature. 

Meanwhile  the  fever  for  liberty  became  a  veritable 
epidemic,  which  rapidly  gained  all  classes.  Nihilism 
was  its  acute  form,  and  it  attacked  women  more  es- 
pecially, and  boys  in  their  teens,  rarely  men  of  mature 
age. 

Anarchy  is  one  of  the  unwholesome,  and  perhaps, 
inevitable  results  produced  in  the  struggle  between 
young  and  vigorous  elements,  and  the  decrepit  forms 
of  the  past.  And  in  the  Slav  nature,  unfortunately, 
there  is  an  innate  streak  of  anarchy,  on  which  nihilism 
readily  grafted  itself. 

It  is  this  tendency  of  the  Slav  nature,  which  led  to 
the  dismemberment  of  Poland,  that  renders  all  es- 
says of  political  freedom  such  difficult  and  hazardous 
problems  in  Russia,  and  prolongs  the  reign  of  auto- 
cracy. According  political  rights  to  a  people  who 
have  always  been  debarred  from  them,  is  as  delicate  a 
task  as  that  of  administering  nourishment  to  a  man 
dying  from  prolonged  fasting.  The  Government, 
therefore,  acts  with  prudent  lirmness,  in  proceeding 
with  protracted  caution  on  the  road  of  liberal  reforms, 
in  spite  of  the  clamors  of  those,  who  would  like  to 
wrench  Russia  from  her  past,  and  precipitate  her 
into  courses,  wholly  foreign  to  her  national  genius 
and  tradition,  and,  for  this  reason,  eminently  calculated 
to  lead  to  anarchy  and  dissolution.  Organisms  must  be 
judged,  not  in  the  abstract,  but  with  regard  to  the 
conditions  and  environment  in  which  they  exercise 
their  functions.  Foreigners  enamored  of  their  own 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTION AKY    MOVEMENT.          113 

political  institutions,  would  do  well,  therefore,  to  sus- 
pend for  awhile  their  declamations  against  autocratic 
despotism,  and  reflect,  that  all  organisms,  whether 
social,  physical,  or  political,  must  mature  and  develop 
according  to  their  respective  laws  and  idiosyncracies. 
Nothing  great  has  great  beginnings,  and  nothing 
violent  is  stable. 

Unfortunately,  it  is  not  the  custom  of  the  present 
day  to  indulge  in  further  reflections  on  any  subject. 
It  is  far  more  congenial  to  allow  oneself  to  be  emo- 
tionally stirred  and  carried  away  by  some  highly  sen- 
sational account,  be  it  of  a  social  scandal,  or  of  "a  hor- 
rible massacre  of  political  exiles  at  Yakutsk,  etc" 

Nihilism  was  the  Russian  form  of  the  Revolution- 
ary blast,  which  has  swept  over  the  whole  world, 
more  or  less,  during  the  19th  century.  In  his  clever 
essay  on  the  "  Decay  of  lying,"  Mr.  Oscar  Wilde 
declares  that  "  the  Nihilist,  this  strange  martyr  who 
has  no  faith,  who  goes  to  the  stake  without  enthusi- 
asm, and  dies  for  what  he  does  not  believe  in,  is  a 
purely  literary  product,  invented  by  Turguenef  and 
completed  by  Dostoievski."  He  might  have  traced 
the  genealogy  much  further  back,  probably  to  the 
time  of  Adam. 

About  twelve  hundred  years  ago  Saint  Austin, 
bishop  of  Hippone  in  Africa,  said  of  some  heretics  of 
his  time  ;  that  they  were  called  nihilists  because  they 
believed  nothing  and  taught  nothing •"  (nihilisti 
appelautur  quia  nihil  credent  et  nihil  docent.)  In 
recent  times  Bournof  coined  the  word  as  a  sort  of  in- 

In  his  excellent  work  "The  New  Era  in  Russia"  Col.  de  Arnaud has 
given  a  most  interesting  account  of  the  origin  of  the  word  nihilism. 

8 


114  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

adequate  translation  of  "  nirvana,"  which,  according 
to  Max  Muller,  means  literally  "  the  action  of  extin- 
guishing.a  light  by  blowing  upon  it." 

"  The  passion  of  destruction  is  a  creative  passion," 
was  the  maxim  of  Bakounin,  a  most  typical  nihilist  of 
1848,  whom  Guizot  expelled  from  France  because  he 
was  a  "  violent  personality."  The  destruction  of  all 
existing  institutions,  such  was  the  programme  that 
nihilism  endeavored  to  execute,  with  the  cruel  melan- 
choly despair  of  the  Slav  nature  to  which  it  appealed. 
It  is  said  that,  during  one  of  his  journeys,  Bakounin 
passed  a  chateau  which  peasants  were  surrounding 
with  malicious  intent.  Immediately,  and  without 
making  any  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  of  the  riot,  he  or- 
ganized them  in  bands,  led  the  assault,  and  when  the 
work  of  destruction  and  pillage  was  accomplished 
unconcernedly  resumed  his  journey. 

His  conduct  is  highly  characteristic  of  the  nihilist 
movement  in  general ;  destroy  first  and  examine  after- 
wards, seems  to  be  the  password.  Neither  Bakounin, 
nor  any  of  his  colleagues  were  ever  able  to  give  a 
satisfactory  reply,  when  questioned  as  to  how  they  in- 
tended to  replace  the  existing  institutions  which  they 
sought  to  destroy ;  and,  if  it  be  allowed  to  coin  a 
word,  I  would  say  that  it  is  this  very  "  negativeness  " 
of  their  system,  that  keeps  nihilists  united  to  some  ex- 
tent ;  otherwise!,' here  would  probably  be  as  many  par- 
ties among  them  as  among  the  Liberals. 

Wholesale  destruction,  corresponding  to  wholesale  ne- 
gation; these  are  the  pivots  on  which  nihilism  revolves. 
"  There  is  neither  God  nor  Czar,"  was  the  creed 
they  tried  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  the  simple,  super- 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENT.  115 

stitious  peasants,  so  prodigal  of  belief  that  water 
sprites,  and  dryads,  and  elf  s  do  not  come  amiss  to  their 
credulous  minds  ;  "  Neither  God  nor  Czar,"  was  the 
doctrine  they  preached '  to  a  people,  whose  political 
and  religious  creed  is  resumed  in  two  words,  "  God 
and  the  Czar  " — to  a  people,  whom  the  rigors  of  their 
earthly  destiny  compelled  to  anchor  hopes  of  bliss  be- 
yond the  skies. 

It  goes  without  saying,  too,  that  they  preached  in 
the  desert. 

Not  long  ago  a  nameless  adventurer  of  the  true 
Russian  stamp,  having  placed  himself  under  the  ban 
of  the  law  through  insubordination  to  some  meddle- 
some tchinovniks,  emigrated  with  a  few  boon  com- 
panions to  Abysinnia,  where  King  Negus  took  him 
under  his  protection  and  made  him  grants  of  lands. 
Fired  with  religious  and  patriotic  zeal,  Atchinoff,  the 
grand  outlaw,  returned  home  to  recruit  subjects,  and 
funds,  and  missionaries  for  his  African  colony.  His 
words  kindled  a  veritable  enthusiasm,  when,  during 
the  Grand  Annual  Fair  at  Nisni  Novgorod,  he 
harangued  the  assembled  multitude  in  the  name  of 
Orthodoxy  and  Czardom,  for  whose  expansion,  he  said, 
a  new  sphere  was  opened  in  the  Dark  Continent,  far 
removed  from  the  "  vexations  of  Tchinovism  and  the 
"barbarism  of  Western  civilization."  His  listeners 
thrilled  with  an  indescribable  emotion,  and  every  heart 
and  every  purse  was  opened  to  him.  The  poorest 
Moujik  and  the  wealthiest  city  merchant  placed  all 
they  had  at  his  command,  and  would  even  have  fol- 
lowed him  there  and  then,  if  considerations  of  pass- 
ports and  other  details  had  not  stood  in  the  way.  At 


116  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

Saint  Petersburg,  Atchinoff  was  received  with  the 
same  enthusiasm.  The  shaggy,  uncouth  apostle  of 
Czardom  and  orthodoxy  was  an  honored  guest  in  the 
palaces  of  the  sovereign,  and  of  the  great  families  of 
the  capital ;  while  statesmen,  publicists  and  men  of 
science  and  letters  received  him  with  cordial  deference. 
Only  one  class  stood  aloof  and  looked  askance  upon  this 
19th  century  Peter  the  Hermit.  These  were  the 
bureaucrats ;  for  this  ovation  to  an  outlaw  of  Tchin- 
ovism  was  an  aspersion  upon  their  Order,  and  they 
resented  it  as  a  personal  injury. 

Whether  this  Abysinnian  colony  will  become  a 
"  pou  sto  "  for  Russian  expansion  in  Africa,  a  kind  of 
San  Francisco  Slav,  or  whether  it  will  die  out  with 
the  death  of  its  founder,  Atchinoff,  is  a  question  that 
time  will  answer ;  but  the  incident  in  itself  abundantly 
proves  how  strong  a  hold  Czardom  and  orthodoxy 
still  have  on  the  Russians,  and  that  they  are  not  nearly 
ready  to  overthrow  their  altars  and  their  thrones,  as 
the  Nihilists  and  their  agents  would  have  us  believe. 

De  Tocqueville  has  remarked  that  the  revolutionary 
spirit  in  our  days  proceeds  on  the  same  lines  as  reli- 
gions do. 

Nihilism,  the  religion  of  negation  and  pessimism, 
has  its  gods,  its  altars  and  its  martyrs. 

Its  divinity  (ostensibly,  at  least,)  is  the  oppressed, 
long  suffering  people,  to  whom  hecatombs  of  victims 
are  sacrificed ;  and  the  names  of  these  confessors  and 
martyrs  who  die  in  penal  servitude,  or  by  the  hands 
of  the  hangman,  are  inscribed  in  the  calendars  of  the 
Nihilists.  Their  memory  is  surrounded  with  an  aure- 
ole of  glory,  and  hymns  are  intoned  in  their  honor 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENT.  117 

worthy  of  a  Saint  Agnes,  or  a  Saint  Cecilia  and  her 
spouse,  Tiberius. 

This  was  the  ideal  side  of  Nihilism,  which  found  so 
many  votaries  among  young  girls  and  University  stu- 
dents. It  appealed  powerfully  to  the  instincts  of 
generosity  and  self-sacrifice,  which  are  the  noble 
apanage  of  youth,  and  it  reveals,  moreover,  the  im- 
mense capacities  for  practical  enthusiasm  and  energetic 
initiative,  that  exist  in  the  Slav  nature,  in  spite  of 
apparent  intellectual  torpor  and  physical  apathy. 

Above  all,  nihilism  captivated  young  imaginations 
by  the  charms  of  mystery  and  danger,  and  flattered 
the  desire  for  self-importance,  so  natural  to  human 
nature. 

In  his  admirable  work  on  "Russian  Literature," 
Melchior  de  Vogue  describes  a  morbid  state  of  mind 
which  is  very  prevalent  in  Russia,  though  by  no 
means  confined  to  that  country.  Otchinia  is  the 
Russian  word  by  which  it  is  designated. 

"If  you  consult  your  dictionary,"  he  says,  "you 
"  will  find  the  word  despair ;  but  the  dictionary  is  a 
"  poor  changer,  that  never  has  the  exact  word,  and 
"  offers  you  a  domestic  coin  for  a  foreign  one,  without 
"taking  into  account  the  difference  of  value.  To 
"  translate  this  word  adequately,  would  require  several : 
"  despair,  fatalism,  asceticism,  bearishness  ;  I  know  not 
"  what  else.  Otchainia  is  the  sentiment  which  urges  so 
"  many  young  people  to  betake  themselves  as  it  chances, 
"  to  suicide,  to  the  ambulance,  to  murder,  to  disorder ; 
"  which  leads  this  peaceful  student  on  his  way  to 
"  assassinate,  and  this  postillion  who  drives  his  horses 
"  at  headlong  speed  among  quagmires,  intoxicated  with 


118  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

"  the  sense  of  unknown  dangers.  In  a  state  of  mind 
"  like  this,  anything  seems  more  endurable  than  a  me- 
"  dium  course."  (Roman  Russe.) 

It  is  also  a  melancholy  fact,  that  in  certain  cases,  the 
tortures  of  a  high  strung,  ardent,  ambitious  tempera- 
ment, writhing  under  the  lash  of  overwhelming  and 
hopeless  poverty,  have  unhinged  the  minds  of  Univer- 
sity students,  and  their  extravagant  proceedings  are 
often  attributable  to  a  sort  of  hyperoesthesia,  produced, 
literally,  by  the  gnaw  ings  of  cold  and  hunger.  It 
would  be  unjust,  however,  as  well  as  short-sighted,  to 
make  the  Russian  government  responsible  for  these 
sad  conditions,  whose  causes  are  to  be  traced  far  back 
into  the  past,  and  which  cannot  be  conjured  away  with 
a  magic  wand. 

Dr.  George  Brandes  indignantly  informs  us  "  that 
it  is  the  duty  of  School  Commissioners  to  decide 
whether  parents  are  sufficiently  well  off  for  their 
children  to  be  admitted  to  a  Grammar  School,"  ("  Im- 
pressions," p.  131)  and,  indeed  it  is  quite  customary  to 
ascribe  to  a  dread  of  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  all 
measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  place  restric- 
tions on  higher  education.  However,  I  leave  it  with 
the  reader  to  judge,  if  there  be  not  some  benignant 
wisdom  in  placing  limitations  to  the  too  rapid  and 
disproportionate  increase  of  the  class  of  learned  pro- 
letariat, (the  most  unfortunate,  as  well  as  the  most 
dangerous  of  all  declasses),  at  least  until  suitable  fields 
of  activity  can  be  opened  to  them.  These  much  to  be 
pitied  youths  of  the  intellectual  proletariat  have  had 
their  ideas  and  ambitious  desires,  inflated  by  a  smatter- 
ing of  University  lore,  but  being  without  stability  or  so- 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY  MOVEMENT.          119 

lidity,  and  the  means  of  self-help,  they  become  the  ready 
prey  of  all  palaver,  written  or  spoken.  They  believe, 
easily,  that  the  world  is  all  out  of  joint  because  they  and 
their  putative  little  talents  do  not  receive  the  immediate 
recognition  to  which  they  think  themselves  entitled,  and 
they  seek  a  panacea  for  their  ills  in  Nihilism,  Fenianism, 
Red  Republicanism,  Socialism,  Anarchism,  according 
to  the  corner  of  the  globe  in  which  their  lot  happens 
to  be  cast.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  Nihilism  casts  a  lurid 
light  on  the  grand  sides  of  the  Russian  character,  by 
the  heroisms  of  self-sacrifice  which  it  has  called  forth, 
we  must  also  acknowledge,  that  a  nation  cannot  be 
re-constituted  with  morbid  elements  such  as  it  furnishes, 
and  we  cannot  wonder  that  the  Government  multiplies 
and  exaggerates  its  efforts  to  frustrate  the  rabid  attacks 
of  monomaniacs,  who  think  they  can  overthrow  a 
system  by  destroying  individual  lives. 

A  cause  that  is  served  and  promoted  by  murder, 
"  most  foul,  as  at  the  best  it  is,"  is  ipso  facto,  an  un- 
just, and  an  unholy  one,  no  matter  by  what  high- 
sounding  words  we  may  choose  to  dignify  it.  Dyna- 
mite and  the  assassin's  revolver  are  no  longer  admis- 
sible as  social  and  political  levers  ;  and,  if  "  free  Amer- 
ica," so  easily  carried  away  by  a  sentimental,  mis- 
guided sympathy  for  all  who  appeal  to  her,  in  the 
name  of  that  much  travestied  lady,  "  Liberty,"  refuse 
to  conclude  the  extradition  treaty  with  Russia,  we 
may  some  day  reap  our  share  of  the  harvest  of  an- 
archy we  are  unwittingly,  and  indirectly,  aiding  others 
to  sow. 

It  is  a  statistical  fact  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
anarchists  in  the  United  States  are  German  and  Rus- 


120  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

sian  Jews,  and  the  influx  of  this  dangerous  element 
has  so  greatly  increased  within  a  year  or  two,  that 
worthy  American  Hebrews,  having  some  sense  of 
what  they  owe  to  their  adopted  country,  are  devising 
means  for  humanizing  and  civilizing  the  scum  of  the 
Slav  population,  which  is  being  daily  washed  upon  our 
shores,  and  may  some  day  prove  a  far  more  serious  incon- 
venience than  the  Mongolian  colonies  in  our  midst. 

If  blundering,  uncalled  for  police  measures  are  often 
irksome  and  pernicious,  as  they  most  certainly  are  in 
many  instances,  it  is  very  regrettable  no  doubt,  but  we 
see  no  cause  for  surprise  and  indignation.  Moreover, 
is  Kussia  the  only  country  in  the  world,  where  arbi- 
trary administrative  acts  and  vicious  applications  of 
the  law  occur,  the  only  country  where  the  innocent 
suffer  with  the  guilty,  the  just  with  the  unjust  ?  In 
virtue  of  what  law  should  anarchists  be  hanged  in 
Chicago  and  left  at  large  in  St.  Petersburg,  and  why 
should  Vigilance  Committees  and  Riot  Acts  not  be 
operative  in  Russia  as  well  as  in  countries  supposed 
to  be  more  civilized  ? 

However  great  may  be  our  self-righteous  indigna- 
tion agaiust  the  summary  measures  taken  by  the  Rus- 
sian Government  against  political  criminals,  we  all 
know  that  since  the  beginning  of  the  world,  the  inva- 
riable practice  of  every  government,  no  matter  what 
its  form  or  appellation,  has  been,  to  borrow  the  lan- 
guage of  the  liberal  Government,  established  not  long . 
since,  in  Brazil,  the  Benjamin  Republic  of  the  new 
world,  "  to  stamp  out  with  unflinching  severity  all 
attempts  to  disturb  the  peace,  "  or  in  other  words,  all 
attempts  to  overthrow  the  existing  government. 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY  MOVEMENT.          121 

It  would,  moreover,  be  puerile  to  declaim  against 
what  is  an  unfortunate  necessity,  for  it  stands  to  rea- 
son, that,  but  for  such  procedure,  there  would  be  an- 
archy and  not  government. 

Unfortunately  all  the  precautions  taken  were  inef- 
fectual, and  Alexander  the  Second  fell  a  victim  to  his 
noble  self-forgetfulness,  not  less  than  to  the  bombs  of 
the  assassins.  Had  he  not  insisted  on  descending 
from  his  carriage  to  ascertain  what  injury  had  been 
done  to  a  small  boy  on  the  road,  and  to  one  of  his 
faithful  Kosacs,  he  might  have  driven  home  safely  ; 
the  second  bomb  would  not  have  done  its  fatal  work, 
and  Russia  would  have  been  endowed  with  a  free 
constitution  on  the  following  day,  for  the  Ukase  by 
which  it  was  to  be  promulgated  lay  on  the  Czar's 
table,  only  awaiting  his  signature  to  become  law. 

Were  there  any  coherency,  any  rationality  in  nihil- 
ism ;  if  it  were  truly  the  exponent  of  the  national 
aspirations,  as  it  pretends  to  be,  it  must  have  tri- 
umphed at  this  hour  ;  so  much  the  more  so,  that  the 
new  Czar,  far  from  making  any  concessions  to  the  rev- 
olutionary spirit,  inaugurated  his  reign  by  a  mani- 
festo, deliberately  opposed  to  the  demands  of  these 
red-handed  regicides,  and  in  which  he  sternly  and  de- 
fiantly accentuated  the  autocratic  prerogatives  of  the 
throne. 

But,  instead  of  seizing  the  reins  of  government  and 
boldly  ascending  the  rostrum,  to  proclaim  the  tri- 
umph of  their  cause  to  a  grateful  and  acclaiming 
people,  the  nihilists,  affrighted  by  their  deed  of  horror, 
shrunk  away  like  evil  beasts  to  their  dens  at  break  of 
day,  to  escape  the  fury  of  the  people,  not  less  than  the 


122  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

pursuits  of  justice.  Armed  force  was  necessary  to 
prevent  the  populace  from  demolishing  the  houses 
suspected  of  harboring  the  conspirators,  whom  they 
would  have  torn  limb  from  limb ;  the  whole  nation 
was  stricken  with  grief  and  horror,  and  nothing  could 
exceed  the  pathos  of  the  scenes  enacted  around  the  re- 
mains of  the  murdered  Czar.  Pilgrim  bands  of  serfs, 
whom  he  had  emancipated,  came  from  all  the  adjacent 
provinces  to  kneel  in  the  Sanctuary,  where  all  that 
was  mortal  of  Alexander  the  Second  lay  in  state,  and 
there,  these  strong,  uncouth  men,  in  rough  tunics  of 
skins,  sobbed  forth  their  grief  like  children  beside  the 
corpse  of  a  beloved  parent,  and  covered  with  their 
tears  the  hand  now  cold  in  death,  that  had  stricken  off 
their  shackles.  To  this  "day  his  tomb  is  constantly 
covered  with  fresh  flowers,  and  multitudes  weep  and 
pray  there  still,  though  nearly  a  decade  has  passed 
since  his  death." 

(Across  Kussia  1892.  Stoddard,  p.  62.) 
The  murder  of  the  Czar  Liberator  was  not  the 
death  of  Autocracy,  as  the  nihilists  fondly  hoped  it 
would  be.  It  was  the  apotheosis  of  autocracy.  This 
was  hardly  what  the  conspirators  had  labored  for,  but 
it  was  the  response  of  the  people  to  their  machinations 
in  1881. 

Since  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Second,  nihilism 
has  been  decidedly  on  the  wane ;  indeed  Russians  of 
St.  Petersburg  say  that  it  is  "  quite  out  of  fashion," 
and  that  we  know  is  fatal  to  any  cause.  It  has  never 
been  as  dangerous  an  element  in  Russia  as  Fenianism 
for  England  and  Socialism  for  the  German  govern- 
ment, for  nihilism  endangers  only  the  life  of  the  Czar,. 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY  MOVEMENT.          123 

and  the  "  Czar  never  dies."  Two  or  three  thousand 
nihilists  scattered  over  a  surface  of  nine  million  square 
miles  can  hardly  offer  any  serious  cause  for  alarm. 

In  London,  Geneva,  Zurich,  and  in  New  York, 
exiled  Nihilists  (some  of  them  bearing  the  mark  of 
Cain)  who  lead  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  party,  endeavor 
to  persuade  the  world  that  their  number  is  always  on 
the  increase,  and  it  is  periodically  announced  that  the 
day  of  triumph  is  approaching,  which  means  that 
some  new,  diabolical  plot  is  on  foot,  for  ending  the 
life  of  one  of  the  noblest  of  men.  Journals  and  pe- 
riodicals in  the  English  language  have  too  readily 
given  publicity  to  mendacious  and  scurrilous  emana- 
tions from  their  pens,  while  the  plots  and  woes  of 
those  who  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Govern- 
ment have  furnished  an  inexhaustible  theme  for  a 
great  amount  of  catchpenny  literature. 

In  Russian  Universities  and  colleges,  boy  conspirators 
still  play  at  Nihilism,  and  are  made  cats  paws  by  unscru- 
pulous Nihilists.  The  effervescence  of  these  exalted 
young  Slavs  is  severely  repressed,  and  they  are  sent  to  Si- 
beria to  outgrow  their  malady,  a  treatment  which  is  gen- 
erally successful.  For  Nihilism  is  peculiarly  a  malady 
that  attacks  young  people  like  the  measles  and  the 
whooping  cough,  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
most  reactionary  and  conservative  men  in  Russia  were 
Radicals  and  Nihilists  in  their  youth.  The  eminent 
publicist,  Katkof,  the  novelist  Dostoievski,  and  Tik- 
homiroff,  implicated  in  the  assassination  of  Alexander 
II,  are  striking  examples  of  this  veering  of  opinion, 
which  cannot  be  attributed  wholly  to  the  dying  out  of 
the  enthusiasms  of  youth. 


SLAV     AND     MOSLEM. 

The  Czar  is  far  more  lenient  than  his  ministers,  and 
invariably  condones  youthful  offenders  when  he  hap- 
pens to  hear  of  their  case,  but  he  is  without  mercy  to 
delinquents  found  in  the  ranks  of  the  army. 

I  quote  from  I)r.  Brandes  "  Impressions  "  a  letter 
from  a  young  woman  of  Nihilistic  tendency,  exiled 
to  Siberia,  which,  if  it  be  authentic  and  a  true  picture, 
would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  the  young  people  of 
both  sexes,  whom  the  Government  subjects  to  a  kind 
of  political  quarantine  in  the  distant  provinces  of  the 
empire,  are  not  extremely  to  be  pitied : 

"  Dear  Friends  : — I  can  imagine  that  you  are  some- 
"  what  uneasy  about  me.  But  never  in  my  life  have  I 
"  been  happier.  It  is  quite  pleasant  to  be  separated 
"  for  awhile  from  my  beloved  husband,  who  was  be- 
"  ginning  to  tire  me.  But  that  is  truly  one  of  the  most 
"  unimportant  things.  I  have  been  received  here  not 
"  as  a  criminal,  but  as  a  Queen.  The  whole  town  is 
"  made  up  of  exiles,  descendants  of  exiles,  friends  of 
"  exiles.  They  actually  vie  with  each  other  in  show- 
"  ing  me  kindness,  nay  homage.  Every  other  evening 
"  I  am  at  a  ball,  and  never  off  the  floor.  This  place 
"  is  a  true  ball  paradise,"  etc.,  etc. — "  Impressions," 
p.  59. 

The  enormity  of  administrative  meddling  and  police 
surveillance  in  Russian  Universities  will  be  explained 
and  extenuated,  if  we  recall  that  these  Universities, 
which  are  of  comparatively  recent  creation,  differ 
entirely  from  those  other  European  countries,  in  that 
the  former  are  State  Institutions,  whereas  the  latter 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY  MOVEMENT.          125 

were  founded  by  private  initiative,  and  only  obtained 
charters  from  their  respective  governments  when  their 
existence  was  already  well  established.  Moreover,  they 
were  primarily  and  essentially  seats  of  learning,  and  not 
of  political  intrigue,  which  has  been  the  tendency 
of  the  Russian  Universities  from  the  beginning,  owing 
to  the  unfortunate  necessity,  that  existed  at  the  time 
of  their  establishment,  of  filling  the  different  Chairs 
with  foreigners,  who  generally  happened  to  be  Ger- 
man Socialists  or  French  Jacobins. 

The  former  element,  in  particular,  has  been  one  of 
the  chief  causes  of  the  Nihilistic  movement  in  Russia, 
for  the  German  mind,  saturated  with  Heine  and  Hegel, 
is  essentially  frondeur,  and  naturally  opposed  to  any 
existing  state  of  things,  like  that  of  a  certain  recently 
landed  immigrant,  who,  when  questioned  as  to  his  po- 
litical views,  unhesitatingly  answered :  "  Hev  ye  a 
givirnment  ?  then  I'm  opposed  to  it." 

Very  similar  was  the  reply  of  one  of  Mr.  George 
Kennan's  proteges  in  Siberia,  to  a  similar  inquiry. 
"No  government,"  was  the  prompt  rejoinder,  the 
curt  formula,  which  was  to  redeem  the  nation  from 
autocratic  despotism,  according  to  the  notions  of  this 
hair-brained  champion  and  martyr  of  Nihilism. 

Altogether,  it  is  the  German  element,  administered 
to  the  country  in  such  large  doses  since  the  reign  of 
Peter  the  Great,  together  with  the  perpetual  troubles 
caused  by  the  hysterical  proceedings  of  Russian  adepts 
of  German  Socialism  that  are  answerable  for  the  alter- 
nating marches  and  countermarches  in  political 
progress,  as  well  as  in  the  organization  and  adminis- 
tration of  the  Universities.  The  Government  finds 


126  SLAV     AND     MOSLEM. 

itself  compelled  to  give  with  one  hand  and  take  back 
with  the  other ;  to  make  grants  one  day  and  repeal 
them  the  next.  It  is  easy  to  understand,  too,  how 
this  tergeversating  policy  bewilders  and  irritates  the 
public  mind,  and  reproduces  the  causes  by  which  it  is 
itself  produced. 

Even  when  they  happen  to  be  holding  high  official 
or  military  positions,  which  has  been  too  often  the 
case,  Russians  of  the  German  kind,  whether  by  their 
origin  or  by  their  Socialistic  tendencies,  are  never  really 
patriotic,  except  for  their  true  fatherland,  which  is 
Germany,  and  I  have  frequently  remarked,  in  the 
limited  sphere  of  my  observations,  that  Jews  and 
Germans  are  the  two  great  antipathies  of  the  genuine 
Russian. 

In  his  "  Impressions  of  Russia,"  Brandes  writes 
thus :  "  In  1887  the  hostility  in  Russia  towards  the 
"  German  Empire  reached  its  height.  They  had 
"  the  feeling  that  the  future  conflict  was  not  very  far 
"  distant,  and  what  without  qualification  was  significant 
"  for  Russia,  was  the  almost  universal  wish  for  defeat. 
"  The  foreigner  (meaning  Dr.  Brandes)  heard  this  not 
"  only  in  Northern  but  in  Southern  Russia,  and  it  made 
"  no  difference  whether  the  speakers  were  Russians 
"  from  the  east  or  from  the  west,  provided  they  were 
"  able  men  who  loved  freedom  (read  Nihilists,  they 
"  are  always  educated  and  love  freedom)  I  have  cer- 
"  tainly  heard  the  wish  expressed  by  more  than  fifty 
"  Russians  of  the  most  varied  classes  of  society."  (P. 
108  Impressions  of  Russia.) 

If,  instead  of  favoring   the   Czar's   dominions,  Dr. 
Brandes  had  come   to   America   on   a  lecturing  tour 


ROMANOFFS REVOLUTIONARY  MOVEMENT.          127 

during  the  Civil  War,  he  would  probably  have  met,  in 
the  different  States,  more  than  "  fifty "  Copperheads, 
.of  the  Order  of  the  Star,  Knights  of  America,  Knights 
of  the  Golden  Circle,  or.  "  Sons  of  Liberty,"  all  "  of 
the  most  varied  classes  of  society,"  and  he  would  no 
doubt  have  consigned  to  future  generations,  in  his 
"  Impressions "  of  America,  the  startling  fact  that 
there  was  in  the  North,  "  an  almost  universal  wish  for 
defeat ;"  all  the  more  so  that  these  "  Sons  of  Liberty  " 
did  not  content  themselves  with  passively  wishing  for 
defeat,  but  did  all  that  was  consistent  with  secrecy  to 
procure  it. 

It  may  truly  be  said  that  nihilism  has  retarded  Rus- 
sia by  fifty  years  at  last.  On  account  of  it  many 
odious  measures  of  surveillance  and  repression  that 
had  fallen  into  desuetude  were  revived  and  enforced 
with  new  vigor,  and  it  has  armed  the  procurator  of 
the  Holy  Synod  against  dissenters  from  the  National 
Church,  as  if  they  were  so  many  conspirators.  Above 
all  it  has  added  thickness  to  the  wall  that  separates  the 
Czar  from  his  people.  Formerly  the  humblest  sub- 
ject could  approach  the  sovereign  in  public  and  pre- 
sent his  petition  ;  to-day  if  any  one  were  to  attempt 
to  do  so,  he  would  risk  being  shot  down,  or  incarcer- 
ated and  sent  to  Siberia  in  summary  manner. 

This  is  what  the  so-called  patriots, who  approach  the 
throne  with  a  "  Petition  of  Rights  "  in  one  hand  and 
dynamite  in  the  other,  have  obtained  for  their  coun- 
try. They  can  never  be  its  saviours,  for  in  them 
the  love  of  humanity  has  soured  into  hatred  of 
society,  while  the  people  they  pretend  to  represent, 
have,  during  nine  centuries  of  Christianism,  learnt  at 


128  SLAV     AND     MOSLEM. 

least  the  one  great  lesson  of  brotherly  love  and  non- 
resistance. 

Mr.  George  Kennan  has  informed  the  public  that 
when  he  appealed  to  Leo  Tolsti  to  interest  himself  on 
behalf  of  political  exiles,  the  great  novelist,  whose 
heart  and  life  have  been  so  freely  bestowed  on  the 
poor,  the  lowly,  and  the  suffering,  answered  only  by 
the  Scriptural  Maxim  :  "  They  who  use  violence  shall 
suffer  violence." 


RUSSIA    IN    ASIA.  129 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

RUSSIA    IN    ASIA. 

Like  the  ocean,  the  stream  of  humanity  has  its 
movements  of  ebb  and  flow.  Fourteen  centuries  ago 
Asia  seemed  too  small  for  its  inhabitants,  and  Europe 
was  deluged  by  barbarian  hordes  from  the  East,  who 
established  colonies  under  the  inclement  skies  of  the 
North,  as  well  as  in  the  sunny  plains  of  the  South ; 
colonies  that  were  the  nuclei  of  flourishing  nations, 
who  have,  since  many  centuries,  been  the  leaders  of  the 
human  race  in  civilization  and  progress. 

In  their  turn,  these  nations  of  Europe  found  their 
limits  too  narrow,  and  the  same  movement  of  expan- 
sion, to  which  they  owed  their  existence  has  impelled 
them  to  the  discovery  of  new  worlds,  and  to  the  coli- 
nization  of  the  lands  of  their  origin  in  the  far  away 
past.  Like  Alexander  the  Great,  we  shall  soon  be  la- 
menting that  there  are  not  more  worlds,  wherein  to 
exercise  our  conquering  activity,  no  transideral  marts, 
whither  to  transport  the  surplus  of  our  ever-increasing 
competition  and  over  production. 

Formerly  European  nations  contented  themselves 
with  maritime  colonies  for  the  purposes  of  trade ;  to- 
day, pestilential  deserts  and  barren  rocky  lands  are 
at  a  premium,  like  vacant  lots  around  capitals  and  grow- 
ing cities.  A  century  ago,  it  did  not  seem  possible, 
that  European  nations  should  collide  in  the  immensities 
9 


130  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

of  Asia,  Africa  and  the  Indies.  But,  unfortunately  for 
the  equilibrium  of  peace,  the  points  of  contact  are  be- 
coming more  numerous  from  day  to  day.  Witness  the 
altercations  which  arose  not  long  ago,  between  the 
Germans  and  the  Spanish  in  the  Carolinas,  between 
the  French  and  the  Italians  in  Abysinnia,  and  this 
general  scramble  for  foothold  on  the  east  coast  of 
Africa.  Have  we  not  even  seen  the  nation  hedged 
about  by  a  Monroe  doctrine,  nearly  involved  in  a  war 
with  Germany  about  some  insignificant  island  in  the 
Pacific  ocean  ?  Fortunately  for  America,  the  Chan- 
cellor had  his  hands  full,  with  troubles  at  home,  and 
he  was  disposed  to  be  conciliating,  which  does  not* 
however,  mean  that  the  German  government  has  relin- 
quished one  iota  of  its  projects  regarding  Samoa. 

Above  all,  who  would  have  supposed  half  a  century 
ago,  that  the  interests  of  two  nations,  as  far  removed 
from  each  other  as  the  East  is  from  the  West,  would  be 
clashing  on  the  frontiers  of  Hindoostan  ?  Certainly, 
no  such  contingency  was  anticipated  when,  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Plassey,  1757,  the  English  supplanted  the  de- 
scendants of  Baber,  who  founded  the  Mogul  empire  in 
India.  Indeed,  until  recently,  it  might  reasonably 
have  been  supposed  that  the  wild  Caucasian  district, 
and  the  Steppes  of  Turkestan,  with  their  nomadic 
banditti,  placed  an  impassable  barrier  between  the 
Russians  and  her  majesty's  Eastern  Empire. 

But  there  is  no  end  to  the  surprises  and  contingen- 
cies, which  beset  the  lives  of  nations.  The  indomita- 
ble Caucasian  district,  which  seemed  to  preclude  all 
expansion  in  that  direction,  is  entirely  pacified  and 
Russianized,  and  has  been  made  the  base  of  military 


RUSSIA    IN    ASIA.  131 

operations  in  Asia  Minor,  the  Bosphorous  and  Central 
Asia ;  while  its  rich  petroleum  mines  have  opened  to 
Russia  a  source  of  new  and  promising  industries. 

Bokhara,  the  stronghold  of  Mussulman  fanaticism, 
since  many  centuries,  is,  to-day,  included  in  the 
Russian  Customs  Union,  and  is  a  main  station  on  the 
great  Trans  Siberian  Railway,  which  is  in  process  of 
construction.  Merv  and  Khiva,  the  inaccessible,  are 
governed  by  the  Russians ;  the  pirates  of  the  desert 
are  enrolled  under  their  banners,  and  the  double 
headed  eagle  that  floated  on  the  standard,  which 
Julius  Caesar  planted  on  British  soil,  54  B.  C.  is  at 
the  gates  of  British  India  to-day.  The  history  of 
Russia's  conquests  is  without  a  parallel  in  the  annals 
of  modern  Europe. 

Never  since  the  old  Romans  subdued  the  known 
world,  by  civilizing  colonies,  as  much  as  by  the  force 
of  arms,  has  any  nation  so  rapidly  extended  its  fron- 
tiers. Nor  are  these  conquests  ephemeral  triumphs, 
like  those  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth  and  the  First  Na- 
poleon. Like  the  Romans  of  old  the  Russians  take 
possession  of  the  soil  by  their  agricultural  classes, 
while  their  generals  and  their  bureaucrats  govern  alike 
the  conquering  and  the  conquered  races. 

What  was  Russia's  first  incentive,  and  what  is  her 
ultimate  aim  in  annexing  territories  three  or  four 
times  as  large  as  Germany  to  her  already  vast  empire  ? 

At  the  outset,  she  was  no  doubt  unconsciously  gov- 
erned by  the  same  natural  law  in  virtue  of  which  su- 
perior organisms  invariably  finish  by  absorbing  their 
weaker  neighbors ;  law,  in  virtue  of  which  the  Red 
Skins  retreated,  step  by  step,  before  the  White  Race, 


132  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

until  they  were  finally  confined  within  the  narrow  lim- 
its of  the  Indian  Reservations.  There  certainly  was 
in  the  early  aggressions  of  the  Russians  in  Asia,  some- 
thing vague  and  unpremeditated,  which  concealed  from 
themselves  as  well  as  from  others,  the  vast  scope  of 
the  desultory,  haphazard  advances  by  which  they 
preluded  their  immense  achievements  in  Central 
Asia. 

But  the  Russians  are  too  positive  and  realistic  to  be 
impelled  by  blind  instincts  and  governed  by  occult 
laws.  It  is  universally  conceded  that  every  civilized 
nation  must  extend  its  frontiers  until  they  reach  the 
confines  of  a  nation  able  and  willing  to  restrain  its 
subjects  from  lawless  depredations  on  their  neighbors. 
The  system  of  military  cordons,  maintained  by  the 
Russians  against  border  warfare,  in  half -civilized  dis- 
tricts, is  both  irksome  and  expensive,  and  it  could 
hardly  be  expected  that  they  would  not  dispense  with 
them,  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  do  so  by  conquering 
their  troublesome  neighbors.  But  when  this  was  done, 
other  tribes  more  distant  soon  came  to  threaten  them 
with  the  same  dangers,  and  similar  measures  of  repres- 
sion became  necessary. 

The  British  Empire  in  India  owes  its  existence  to 
this  very  necessity  of  conquering  and  annexing,  which 
compelled  the  Russians  to  make  many  undesirable  and 
onerous  acquisitions  of  territory.  The  conquest  of 
Scinde  by  Napier,  during  Lord  Ellenborough's  admin- 
istration is  a  notable  example  of  these  compulsory 
conquests.  The  British  cabinet,  (Sir  Robert  Peel,) 
were  unanimous  in  their  disapprobation,  but  the  mis- 
chief of  retaining  this  outlying  province  was  less  than 


RUSSIA   IN   ASIA.  183 

the  mischief  of   abandoning  it,  and   they  were  forced 
to  acquiesce. 

In  a  circular  to  the  European  Powers,  Prince  Gort- 
chakoff,  chancellor  of  .the  empire,  explained  how 
Russia  was  in  the  position  of  all  civilized  States, 
brought  into  contact  with  semi-savage  nornads.  "  The 
State,  he  says,  finds  itself  obliged  either  to  abandon 
"  this  ceaseless  labor  and  give  over  its  frontiers  to 
"  perpetual  disorder,  which  renders  all  prosperity,  all 
"  security,  all  civilization  an  impossibility,  or  to  ac- 
"  cept  the  alternative  of  plunging,  deeper  and  deeper 
"  into  barbarous  countries,  where  at  every  onward  step 
the  difficulties  and  expenses  are  increased.  " 

The  circular  goes  on  to  explain  Russia's  motives  in 
subduing  Central  Asia.  "  No  agent,  it  says,  has  been 
"  more  efficacious  in  spreading  civilization  than  com- 
"  inerce.  The  development  of  commercial  relations 
"  everywhere,  demands  order  and  stability,  but  in 
"  Asia  there  must  also  be  a  complete  change  in  the 
"  customs  of  the  people.  The  first  thing  that  Asiatic 
"  tribes  must  learn,  is,  that  more  is  to  be  gained  by 
"  favoring  and  protecting  the  Caravan  trade,  than  by 
"  robbery.  These  elementary  ideas  can  be  made  part 
"  of  the  public  conscience,  only  where  there  is  a  social 
"  organization,  and  a  government  to  direct  and  repre- 
"  sent  it. 

Necessity,  however,  was  not  Russia's  only  law,  nor 
was  philanthropy  her  only  incentive.  She  needed  an 
outlet  for  her  growing  manufactures  and  industries, 
and  saw  no  reason  why  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg 
should  not  supply  the  Eastern  markets,  as  well  as  Bir- 
mingham or  Manchester.  And  in  this  point  she  has 


SLAV  AND  MOSLEM. 

completely  succeeded,  thanks  to  her  protective  tariff 
and  her  Trans-caspian  Railway.  Not  only  has  Russia 
supplanted  England  in  the  commerce  of  Central  Asia, 
but  she  also  controls  that  of  Northern  Persia.  The 
rich  and  fertile  province  of  Khorassan  is  commercially 
hers  already,  and  its  complete  annexation,  which  is 
openly  desired  by  the  natives,  is  only  a  question  of 
time.  Last,  but  not  least,  with  Persia  as  an  ally,  not 
to  say  a  vassal,  she  will  have  a  free  sea  coast  for  her 
maritime  enterprises  in  the  East,  and  the  Persian  Gulf 
will  be  little  better  than  a  Russian  inland  sea,  like  the 
Caspian.  The  English  are  making  strenuous  efforts 
to  retain  their  footing  in  southern  Persia,  and  regain 
their  commercial  ascendency  in  Khorassan ;  but  un- 
fortunately for  the  success  of  their  efforts,  Persia  is, 
from  a  military  point  of  view,  so  completely  at  Rus- 
sia's mercy,  that  during  the  Shah's  visit  to  England, 
it  needed  only  a  little  veto  from  the  Czar  to  prevent 
the  former  from  making  any  of  the  concessions  the 
English  were  so  anxious  to  obtain  from  him. 

As  to  the  ultimate  aim  of  Russia's  advance  in 
Central  Asia,  there  can  be  little  doubt.  In  defend- 
ing Constantinople,  England  defends  her  Eastern 
Empire.  This  has  never  been  a  mystery.  That 
Russia  attacks  Constantinople  in  Asia,  is  also  a  well 
averred  fact.  "  The  Keys  of  the  Straits,  (Bosphorus 
and  Dardanelles,)  are  in  the  Steppes  of  Asia,"  said  the 
celebrated  General  Skobelef,  the  hero  of  Plevna,  the 
Turenne  of  Russia. 

It  was  after  the  disastrous  Crimean  war  that  the 
first  campaign  in  Asia  was  undertaken.  In  a  biogra- 
phy of  Prince  Gortchakoff,  published  in  the  Journal 


RUSSIA    IN    ASIA.  135 

of  St.  Petersburg  in  1856,  by  the  Foreign  ministry, 
we  read  the  following  passage  :  "  The  Crimean  war 
"  has  shown  that  Russia  cannot  count  upon  the  amica- 
"  ble  relations  which  have  existed  between  her  and 
"  England  since  a  century.  It  was  indispensable  to 
"  interest  her,  materially,  in  appreciating  Russia's 
"  friendship,  and  seeking  to  preserve  it.  Only  a  strong 
"  position  in  Asia  could  attain  this  end." 

The  conquest  of  Turkestan  was  begun  by  the  North. 
Orenburg  in  the  south  Ural  district,  being  the  point  of 
departure,  whence  the  invaders  proceeded  to  occupy 
the  Steppes  of  Kirghiz,  and  the  basins  of  the  Syr 
Daria  and  the  Amon  Daria,  (the  ancient  Ixartes  and 
Oxus,)  while  General  Monravieff  (Amoursky)  extended 
the  frontiers  of  Siberia  in  the  southwest,  by  annexing 
the  vast  plains  of  the  Amour,  ceded  by  China,  at  the 
treaty  of  Aigon,  (1858.)  Masters  of  Tashkend,  Sa- 
markend,  Khokand  and  Bokhara,  the  Russians  could 
have  reached  Afghanistan  by  its  northern  frontier, 
but  they  preferred  taking  an  easier  route. 

From  Tiflis  or  from  Batoum,  on  the  Black  Sea,  to 
Bakou  on  the  Caspian,  is  only  a  twenty-four  hours' 
journey  by  rail.  This  inland  sea,  which  virtually  be- 
longs to  Russia,  though  the  southern  coast  is  Persian, 
is  connected  by  rail  with  Moscow,  and  with  central 
Russia  by  the  Yolga.  It  can  be  crossed  in  twenty 
hours  from  Bakou  to  Krasnovodsk,  of  which  the  Rus- 
sians took  possession  in  1869.  Under  the  hardy  initia- 
tive of  General  Arinenkof,  (Melchoir  de  Yogues' 
brother-in-law,)  a  railway  was  built  across  the  desert, 
over  the  Oxus  to  Merv  and  Samarcand  ;  and  thanks 
to  this  bold  undertaking,  the  frontiers  of  Afghanistan 


136  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

are  within  a  few  days'  reach  of  the  Trans  Caucasian 
district,  where  Russia  always  maintains  large  armies 
and  well  supplied  arsenals.  It  would  take  England 
much  longer  to  send  reinforcements  from  London  to 
Kurrachee,  and  thence  to  Herat,  or  even  from  Cal- 
cutta to  Herat. 

Recent  reliable  accounts  show  that  the  Trans  Cas- 
pian Railway,  is  by  no  means  as  insignificant  and  in- 
efficient, as  it  was  at  first  represented  to  be.  The  facili- 
ties it  offers  for  mobilizing  armies  may  be  greater  or 
less  than  they  are  represented,  but  no  one  can  over- 
look the  importance  of  the  fact,  that  between  Herat 
and  the  Russian  Stations  at  Merv  or  of  Meshed,  only 
about  200  miles  intervene. 

How  long  would  it  take  this  hardy  and  enterprising 
people  to  span  this  little  distance  and  perfect  what  has 
already  been  accomplished  ?  Meanwhile,  the  Russians 
have  scored  an  important  victory,  by  the  increased 
prestige  that  this  Railway  has  given  them  in  the  eyes 
of  all  Asiatics,  who  look  upon  it  as  a  far  more  remark- 
able achievement  than  the  Indian"  Railways,  which 
traverse  thickly  populated  and  fertile  regions — to  say 
nothing  of  the  facilities  that  this  Railroad  affords  for 
the  ever  increasing  commerce  with  Asia. 

In  1873,  the  Russians,  with  material  aid  from  Per- 
sia, in  the  shape  of  provisions  and  beasts  of  burden, 
took  possession  of  Khiva  the  inexpugnable  oasis  of  the 
desert,  and  thus  ended  the  first  and  least  arduous  of 
their  campaigns  in  Central  Asia. 

Between  the  South  Caspian  District  and  Afghan- 
istan, lived  the  formidable  Tekkes,  the  terror  of  the 
Persians  and  of  all  their  neighbors.  After  the  Bulga- 


RUSSIA    IN    ASIA.  137 

rian  war  (1878)  the  Russians  began  against  them  a 
series  of  campaigns,  which  ended  by  the  storming  of 
their  great  stronghold,  Gheok  Tepe,  by  General 
Skobelef.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  but  Russian  soldiers 
could  have  endured  the  hardships  entailed  by  these 
campaigns.  The  French  soldiers  were  discouraged 
before  they  could  be  taken  as  far  as  Khiva,  and  their 
revolt  compelled  Bonaparte  to  seek  easier  victories  on 
European  soil. 

The  vanquished  Tekkes  were  invited  to  the  corona- 
tion of  Alexander  the  III,  (1881)  and,  overcome  with 
admiration  for  the  magnificence  and  valor  of  their 
conquerors,  they  became  Russia's  most  devoted  vassals. 
Thanks  to  the  influence  exercised  by  their  example, 
Merv,  the  capital  of  the  Eastern  Tekkes,  opened  its 
gates  and  welcomed  the  troops  of  the  Czar,  in  spite  of 
the  efforts  made  by  Anglo-Indian  agents,  who  excited 
some  bandit  Sheiks  to  oppose  the  Russian  army. 

To  please  their  new  master,  the  Khans  and  chief 
citizens  of  Merv,  of  their  own  accord,  released  all  their 
prisoners  of  war  whom  they  held  as  slaves.  And  such 
was  the  last  development  in  the  checkered  history  of 
this  remarkable  city,  whose  earliest  traditions  carry  us 
back  to  the  time,  when  the  Persian  empire  was  in  the 
zenith  of  its  splendor,  and  Merv  was  one  of  its  satra- 
pies. After  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
the  dismemberment  of  his  vast  empire,  Merv  was  re- 
built by  Antiochus  Soter  one  of  his  successors,  and, 
this  ancient  city,  which  had  been  a  Christian  bishopric 
soon  after  the  establishment  of  Christianity,  became, 
in  the  eighth  century,  the  field  of  religious  strife  caused 
by  the  schism  of  Mokannah,  "the  veiled  prophet  of 


138  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Khorassan."  When  the  successors  of  Mahomet  had 
absorbed  the  debris  of  Alexander's  Asiatic  Empire, 
Merv  became  the  capital  of  Alp  Arslam,  the  greatest 
Sultan  of  the  Seljuk  Turks.  In  the  13th  century  it 
was  conquered  by  Genghis  Khan,  and  since  then,  it 
has  been  a  stronghold  of  Mussulman  fanaticism,  her- 
metically sealed  to  the  profane  eyes  of  unbelievers, 
until  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  when  a 
few  daring  British  travelers,  took  their  lives  in  their 
hands,  and  ventured  within  its  mysterious  precincts. " 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  Merv  has  en- 
tered into  a  new  phase  of  existence,  and  that  "  the 
Queen  of  the  desert"  is  about  to  renew  the  days  of 
her  ancient  splendor  and  prosperity. 

Already,  in  1879,  the  Anglo-Indians  had  taken  alarm 
at  Russia's  encroachments  in  the  East,  and  at  what 
they  were  pleased  to  consider  a  "  breach  of  faith" 
on  her  part.  Indeed,  there  always  seems  to  be,  in 
English  minds,  an  impression  that  Russia  is,  somehow, 
bound  to  keep  her  engagements,  even  if  others  break 
theirs.  After  the  Crimean  war  had  changed  the 
status  quo  of  Europe,  and  the  policy  of  Palmerston 
had  deprived  the  Persians  of  Herat,  Russia  was  still 
expected  to  adhere,  strictly,  in  her  movements  in  Cen- 
tral Asia  to  what  Nicholas  had  agreed  to  in  1844, 
under  different  circumstances.  "  The  idea  that  Eng- 
"  land  and  Russia  agreed  to  establish  a  neutral  zone 
"  between  their  respective  Empires,  and  that  Russia 
"  has  systematically  violated  the  neutral  zone  agreed 
"  upon,  is  one  of  the  delusions  which,  having  once  got 
"  possession  of  the  public  mind,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
"  eradicate.  There  was  an  understanding  about  Khiva, 


RUSSIA    IN    ASIA,  139 

"  but  we  must  all  admit,  that  it  was  a  most  unfortu- 
"  nate  understanding,  because  no  two  persons  are 
"  agreed  as  to  what  the  understanding  was."  It  was 
thus  that  Lord  Beaconsfield  expressed  himself  on  this 
subject,  and  though  he  had  told  the  Anglo-Indians 
already,  in  1876,  that  it  was  almost  inevitable  that  all 
the  Khanats  would  be  conquered  by  Russia,  their 
anxiety  increased  with  every  new  progress.  When 
Merv  was  taken,  the  alarm  became  so  intense,  that  the 
English  at  home  rallied  their  compatriots  in  India,  on 
what  was  called  their  "  Jbfe?*voU6ne88." 

But  Russian  aggression  did  not  even  stop  at  Merv. 
In  1884,  the  Turcoman  Sarakhs  followed  the  example 
of  the  Tekkes  of  Merv,  and  General  Komaroff  did  not 
wait  to  be  asked  twice  before  he  established  himself 
at  Serak  on  the  Heri  Roud,  the  stream  that  runs 
down  to  Herat.  This  was  more  than  British  equa- 
nimity could  stand.  War  became  imminent.  It  was 
conjured  away  ad  tern/pus;  but  a  casus  belli  is  always 
pending  on  the  Afghan  frontier.  If,  and  when,  it  will 
mature,  are  questions  which  time  alone  can  answer 
with  certainty. 

Russia's  administration  in  her  Asiatic  provinces  has 
been  bitterly  denounced  by  Russophobists,  and  not 
without  some  reason.  But  the  fault  lies,  not  in  her 
policy,  but  in  the  instruments  she  employs.  She  is 
certainly  not  so  happy  in  her  choice  as  Bismarck,  who 
made  a  point  of  sending  the  best  officials  to  adminis- 
ter the  conquered  provinces  of  Alsace-Lorraine.  The 
Tchinovinks  do  not,  as  a  rule,  enjoy  a  high  reputation 
at  home  :  though  there  are  some  officials  who  are  both 
honest  and  capable.  But  as  these  are  in  demand  in 


140  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

European  Russia,  the  government  of  distant  annexed 
provinces  often  falls  under  the  administration  of  those 
who  are  neither  honest  nor  capable. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  generally  recognized  that  in  all  the 
countries  where  Russian  rule  has  been  established,  the 
condition  of  the  inhabitants  has  been  greatly  amelio- 
rated. Their  policy  regarding  the  troublesome  Caucas- 
sian  district  was  even  condemned  as  too  humane. 
"  They  have  generally  adopted,"  said  the  Nihilist 
Klaproth,  "  a  very  defective  system  towards  the  people 
"  of  the  mountains  ;  they  employ  gentleness  and  hu- 
"  inanity,  means  which  will  never  succeed,  as  they  are 
"  regarded  as  marks  of  feebleness  and  fear."  Mr. 
Oliphant,  another  hostile  witness,  writing  about  the 
Caucasian  district,  admits  that  Russian  rule  has  been 
efficacious  "  in  improving  the  material  condition  and 
"  in  developing  the  resources  of  the  country." 

In  1876,  when  Russia  gave  the  Kurile  islands  to 
Japan  in  exchange  for  Saghalien,  only  625  of  the  in- 
habitants left  this  island,  the  great  majority  preferring 
to  become  Russian  subjects  ;  while,  on  the  contrary, 
their  subjects,  in  the  Kuriles,  all  emigrated  to  Sagha- 
lien in  order  to  remain  under  the  scepter  of  the 
White  Czar.  Statements  of  this  kind  must  seem  sur- 
prising to  strangers,  whose  only  acquaintance  with 
Russia  is  derived  from  sensational  accounts  of  her 
cruel  treatment  of  poor  patriotic  nihilists. 

As  a  rule  Russia  is  most  tolerant  to  all  religions,  and 
by  no  means  disposed  to  proselytise.  It  was  a  saying  of 
Peter  the  Great,  that  "God  has  given  the  Czar  power 
over  the  nations,  but  Christ  alone  has  power  over  the 
consciences  of  men  :"  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that 


RUSSIA    IN    ASIA.  141 

the  religious  tests,  and  disabilities  debarring  men  from 
their  rights  as  citizens,  which  existed  in  Free  England 
until  recent  years,  are  unknown  in  Russia.  Lutherans, 
Roman  Catholics,  Mahomedans,  Anglicans,  have  held, 
and  still  hold,  high  positions  in  the  State  and  in  the 
army.  Count  Nesselrode,  Alikhanoff  and  Loris  Meli- 
koff  are  a  few  examples  of  this  absence  of  narrow- 
minded  intolerance.  The  prejudice  against  the  Jews, 
which  is  so  strong  in  Russia,  is,  apart  from  all  religious 
sentiment,  a  violent,  racial  and  personal  antipathy  not 
altogether  baseless ;  so  that  the  treatment  of  the 
Semetic  race  in  Russia  can  hardly  be  considered  a 
religious  persecution. 

In  the  Nevaski  Prospekt,  at  St.  Petersburg,  there 
are  churches  of  so  many  different  denominations,  that 
it  has  received  the  sobriquet  of  Toleration  Street.  Sec- 
tarians of  every  creed,  except  those  who  have  seceded 
from  the  National  Church,  and  propagate  immoral 
and  criminal  teachings,  can  raise  their  temples  and 
worship  God  according  to  their  own  ideas,  provided 
they  do  not  proselytise.  Czars,  like  Paul  I  and 
Alexander  I,  were,  personally,  well  disposed  towards 
the  raskouliks,  and  even  assisted  at  their  meetings, 
but  the  State,  for  political  reasons,  has,  since  the 
days  of  Nikon,  the  Reforming  Metropolitan, 
systematically  persecuted  all  dissenters  from  the 
Greek  Church,  as  well  as  enterprising  evangelizers 
like  Lord  Radstock  and  his  Russian  adepts,  who  have 
sought  to  increase  the  numbers  of  these  dissenters 
from  the  National  Church,  which  is  the  symbol  and 
cement  of  the  National  unity. 

Russia's  treatment   of   Poland   has  been  made  the 


142  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

subject  of  much  animadversion,  but  it  must  be  borne 
in  mind,  that  with  the  Poles  religion  has  always  been 
used  as  a  political  machine,  and  it  was  persecuted  as 
such.  Moreover,  whenever  the  Poles  have  had  the 
upper  hand,  Russians  have  found  but  little  mercy, 
either  as  citizens  or  as  members  of  the  Greek  Church. 
There  was  also,  it  must  be  remembered,  a  secular  race 
rivalry  between  these  two  nations,  and  from  the  four- 
teenth century  till  the  final  dismemberment  of  Poland, 
it  was  a  continuous  struggle  for  the  hegemony  of  the 
Slav  nations.  Poland  acquired  importance  at  Russia's 
expense,  and  Russia  could  only  take  the  leadership  of 
the  Slavs  at  Poland's  expense.  Her  treatment  of 
Poland,  therefore,  was,  after  all,  and  at  the  worst,  only 
a  Roland  for  an  Oliver.  * 

Russia's  conquered  subjects  in  Asia  often  embrace 
Greek  Catholocism,  when  their  own  religion  happened 
to  be  some  vague  polytheism,  but  Mahomedans  rarely 
abjure  their  religion.  This,  however,  is  no  obstacle 
to  mutual  good  understanding  with  their  conquerors. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  whether  the 
Russians,  General  Komaroff  in  particular,  acted  with 
inhumanity  towards  the  Turcomans.  Schuyler  says 
he  did;  Mr.  Gladstone,  according  to  statements  made 
by  an  eye-witness,  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  he  did 


*  A  recent  traveler  writes  as  follows  :  "  Warsaw  is  a  cheerful  and 
lively  town.  We  had  been  in  the  habit  of  pitying  the  Poles.  But  the 
evident  happiness  of  the  people,  the  bright  and  handsome  streets,  the 
gay  gardens,  the  grand  congregations  of  Luthurans,  Roman  Catholics 
and  Jews  in  their  respective  places  of  worship  on  Saturday  and  Sunday, 
dissipated  our  sentimental  and  gloomy  ideas,  and  set  us  thinking 
whether,  after  all,  the  masses  of  the  people  were  not  happier  and  better 
off  under  the  new  regime."  (Across  Russia,  R.  Y.  Stoddard,  1891,  Scrib- 
ner's,  p.  232.) 


RUSSIA    IN    ASIA.  143 

not.  This  eye-witness,  Mr.  Macgahan,  affirmed  that 
"  cases  of  violence  towards  women  were  rare,  though 
"  the  Eussians  were  fighting  barbarians,  who  commit 
"  all  sorts  of  atrocities  upon  their  prisoners,  which  fact 
"might  have  excused  a  great  deal  of  cruelty  on  the 
"  part  of  the  soldiers ;  their  conduct  was  infinitely 
•"  better  than  that  of  European  troops  in  European 
"  campaigns."  Indeed,  when  some  writers  dilate  on 
the  alleged  atrocities  committed  by  the  Russian  sol- 
diers in  Central  Asia,  we  are  tempted  to  wonder  if  they 
never  read  the  history  of  British  India,  and  whether 
they  ever  heard  of  Sepoy  regiments  being  blown 
away  from  the  cannon's  mouth  ;  of  the  siege  of  Bada- 
jos,  the  destruction  of  the  Palatinate,  and  a  few  other 
unfortunate  episodes  of  war  in  modern  times. 

It  would  be  quite  uninteresting  to  enter  into  the 
circumstantial  evidence  for  and  against  the  Russians, 
so  much  the  more  so  that  there  is  much  truth  in  the 
opinion  of  the  philosopher,  who  said  that  short-sighted 
people  should  neither  read  nor  write  history.  Micro- 
scopic inspection  interferes  with  broad  views  and  syn- 
thetic judgments.  It  is  Russia's  policy  and  achieve- 
ments, in  general,  that  we  laud.  A  hundred  years 
hence,  it  will  matter  little  whether  Komaroff ,  Skobelef 
or  Kaufman  did  or  did  not  resort  to  unnecessary 
severity  in  subduing  some  of  these  semi-barbarous 
tribes,  among  whom  the  women  fought  like  men,  and 
thus  forfeited  the  peculiar  consideration  which  is  due 
to  their  sex.  It  will  be  remembered  only  that  these 
vast  regions  were  conquered  to  civilization  by  the  Rus- 
sians, and  that  the  inhabitants  have  had  no  reason  to 
complain  of  their  new  destinies. 


144:          '  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Certainly,  if  it  were  desirable  that  Asia  should  be 
brought  within  the  pale  of  European  civilization,  no 
nation  is  better  fitted  for  the  enterprise  than  Russia. 
She  is  a  many  sided  nation,  composed  of  so  great  a 
multiplicity  of  elements,  both  homogeneous  and 
heterogeneous,  that  with  all  the  nations  of  Asia  she 
has  some  points  of  contact.  None  of  the  Teutonic  or 
Latin  races  have,  in  an  equal  degree,  her  genius  for 
colonization.  She  is  an  adept  in  the  art,  having 
practiced  it  all  her  life,  for,  as  LeRoy  Beaulieu  re- 
marks, "her  whole  history  is  a  history  of  colonization." 

She  does  more  than  colonize,  she  assimilates  the  con- 
quered races,  so  that  what  was  foreign  before  soon 
merges  its  identity  into  hers.  Russia  does  not  take 
possession  of  a  country  with  sword  in  one  hand  and 
Bible  or  Cross  in  the  other,  but  by  her  merchants  and 
her  peaceful  moujiks,  who  readily  fraternize  with  the 
conquered  races.  Her  greatest  strength  lies  in  armies 
composed  of  soldiers,  who  are  only  moujiks  in  uniform. 

"  They  are  as  brave  as  they  are  docile,"  says  Cuche- 
val  Clarigny ;  "  easy  to  content,  supporting  without 
"  a  murmur  all  kinds  of  fatigue  and  privation,  ready 
"  for  anything ;  these  soldiers  construct  roads,  excavate 
"  canals,  make  bricks,  build  forts  and  barracks,  manu- 
"  facture  cartridges  and  projectiles,  are  masons,  black- 
"  smiths  or  carpenters,  according  to  the  need  of  the 
"  moment,  and  the  day  after  the  regiment  is  disbanded 
"  they  will  joyfully  return  to  the  plough.  With  such 
"  instruments  at  her  disposal,  Russia's  power  will  never 
"  decline  ;  a  few  years  will  suffice  to  render  final  the 
"  conquest  of  any  land  on  which  she  has  set  her  foot." 

These   manifold  functions  of   the  Russian  soldiers, 


RUSSIA    IN   ASIA.  145 

seem  to  be  overlooked  by  writers,  who  describe  the 
Czar's  Asiatic  Empire  as  a  mere  military  settlement, 
where  the  natives  are  only  held  in  subjection  by  the 
force  of  arms.  The  Trans-Caspian  Railway,  which 
was  projected  by  soldiers,  was  built  and  is  run  by 
soldiers,  chiefly.  They  are  mains  d'oeuvre,  mechanics, 
engineers,  brakemeii,  conductors,  anything  the  case 
may  require.  Whenever  there  is  a  gap  to  fill,  the 
Russian  soldier  expects  to  be  called  upon  to  fill  it.  In 
Central  Asia  particularly,  he  is  by  no  means  the  spe- 
cialist, in  scarlet  uniform,  who  hangs  around  barracks, 
goes  to  parade  at  certain  hours,  and  fills  up  the  vacant 
time  with  card  playing  and  dram  drinking,  as  is  too 
often  the  case  in  British  India.  If,  therefore,  the 
number  of  Russian  troops  in  Asia  is  more  than  fifty 
per  cent,  greater,  in  proportion,  to  the  native  popula- 
tion, than  that  of  the  British  army  in  India,  it  is  no 
argument  for  or  against  the  popularity  and  security  of 
the  government  of  either  of  these  nations. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  secret  of  Russia's  success 
in  assimilating  the  conquered  races  in  Asia,  is  due  to 
the  fact  of  her  own  inferior  civilization.  Whether 
this  assertion  be  true  or  false,  one  thing  is  certain, 
there  is,  and  there  always  will  be,  an  immense  differ- 
ence between  British  Empire  in  India,  and  Russian 
Empire  in  Asia. 

There  is  in  the  Anglo  Saxon  nature  an  unconquer- 
able morgue,  a  sublime  feeling  of  race  superiority, 
which  makes  it  impossible  for  them  to  amalgamate 
with  those  they  consider  their  inferiors;  and,  as  a  race, 
they  have,  or  think  they  have,  no  peers  on  the  face  of 
the  globe.  After  more  than  a  century  of  domination 
10 


146  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

in  India,  and  in  spite  of  the  millions  and  millions 
which  have  been  spent  on  missionaries  and  educational 
institutions,  there  is  not  the  least  rapprochement  be- 
tween the  English  and  their  dusky  compatriots  in 
India.  During  several  years  residence  in  Calcutta,  I 
have  been  shocked  by  the  heartless  indifference  and 
.the  utter  contempt  with  which  the  native  populations, 
or  Europeans  who  have  inter-married  with  them,  were 
regarded.  I  have  heard  English  gentlemen  boast  of 
having  thrashed  servants  within  an  inch  of  their  lives, 
;and  though  this  has  been  greatly  modified  within  the 
last  twenty  years,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  relations 
between  the  conquered  and  the  conquerors  are  really 
more  cordial  than  they  used  to  be.  The  English  never 
•consider  India  as  anything  but  a  place  of  exile,  where 
they  must  serve  out  a  time  of  penal  servitude,  in  order 
to  accumulate  a  fortune,  whereon  to  retire  as  soon  as 
possible.  And  though  they  are  glad  to  avail  themselves 
•of  the  services  of  educated  natives  as  clerks  in  count- 
ing houses  and  shops,  as  it  is  far  more  economical 
than  employing  Englishmen,  it  is  doubtful  if  Hindoos 
•or  Mahomedans  will  ever  hold  the  high  offices  in  State 
;and  army,  to  which  they  are  entitled  to  aspire,  by  the 
rights  of  citizenship  and  the  civil  service  examinations 
which  some  of  them  pass  so  creditably.  Their  exclu- 
sion from  such  offices  is  an  anomaly  and  an  inconsist- 
ency of  which  Russians  cannot  be  accused,  in  regard 
to  their  Asiatic  subjects. 

"Within  a  few  years  of  the  storming  of  Gheok  Tepe, 
isome  of  Skobelef's  bravest  opponents  were  raised  to 
the  rank  of  commanding  officers  in  the  Russian  army ; 
jand  in  the  civil  administration,  the  fact  of  being  a 


RUSSIA    IN    ASIA.  14:7 

native  citizen,  is  no  bar  sinister  against  holding  high 
office. 

That  Russia  considers  it  her  mission  to  civilize  Asia, 
.she  has  given  abundant  -proof.  Felt  tents  (Kibitkas) 
are  fast  disappearing  before  European  constructions ; 
bridges  span  the  Syr  Daria  and  the  Amon  Daria,  the 
snorting  locomotive  has  startled  the  shades  of  Tamer- 
lane at  Samarkand,  and  we  may  soon  expect  to  see  it 
branching  off  to  Herat.  The  hideous  slave  traffic,  that 
.still  flourishes  in  Morocco  and  at  Constantinople,  under 
the  very  eyes  of  the  European  Powers,  has  been  abol- 
ished in  Central  Asia  from  the  strongholds  of  Mussul- 
man fanaticism,  which  are  being  rapidly  converted  into 
emporiums  of  commerce.  Above  all,  the  Steppes  of 
Asia,  for  so  many  centuries  the  scenes  of  permanent 
rapine  and  pillage,  have  been  made  safe  highways  by 
these  noble  pioneers,  of  whom  Le  Hoy  Beaulieu  says : 
"  Civilization  and  humanity  owe  the  Russians  a  grati- 
"  tude  that  our  Europe  doles  out  to  them  with  too 
•" much  parsimony."  "In  our  time,"  writes  Carlyle, 
"  they  have  done  signal  service  to  God  and  man,  in 
•"  drilling  into  order  and  peace  Anarchial  populations 
all  over  their  side  of  the  world." 

Tashkend,  so  lately  a  den  of  brigands,  is  the  capital 
of  Russia's  Asiatic  Empire.  It  has  a  gymnasium,  a 
public  library,  an  Imperial  Bank,  and  many  factories. 
There  are  over  100,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  six 
thousand  are  Russians.  Schools  have  been  opened  by 
the  Government  for  the  natives,  and  periodicals  are 
published,  both  in  Russian  and  in  Kirghiz. 

"Within  ten  years  of  the  conquest  of  Central  Asia 
the  Russians  had  built  canals  capable  of  irrigating 


148  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

forty-five  thousand  hectares.  The  extensive  mines  of 
these  vast  regions  have  not  yet  been  exploited,  but 
already  cotton  and  silk  of  the  finest  quality  are  pro- 
duced in  abundance.  As  early  as  1884  telegraph  wires 
placed  the  Bokharan  merchants  in  communication 
with  the  centers  of  trade  all  over  the  world,  and  over 
2,000,000  cwts.  of  Bokharan  cotton  are  sold  annually 
at  Nisni  Novgorod,  where  it  costs  3d.  less  than 
any  that  can  be  imported  from  India  or  America. 
Cereals  and  grapes  are  also  abundant  in  many  parts, 
and  tobacco  promises  to  be  a  valuable  article  of  export 
trade.  It  is  said  that,  for  years,  some  20,000  nomads 
of  the  Steppes  were  employed  by  General  Annenkoff 
in  the  construction  of  his  Kailway,  and  worked  cheer- 
fully for  a  few  cents  a  day.  Certainly  this  is  better 
than  the  system  of  degrading  the  native  populations 
by  liquor,  and  that  of  gradual  extermination,  to  make 
room  for  the  white  race. 

That  the  future  of  the  vast  continent  of  Asia  lies 
in  the  hands  of  Russia  and  of  England,  is  patent  to 
every  thinking  mind.  On  these  two  nations  has  de- 
volved the  mission,  more  or  less  onerous,  more  or  less 
lucrative,  of  introducing  and  promoting  civilization 
in  Asia.  Shall  her  fertile  plains  be  made  the  scenes  of 
strife  and  carnage,  or  shall  her  ancient  glories  be  res- 
tored, and  her  latent  potentialities  be  developed  by  the 
combined  efforts  of  Slav  and  Saxon  ? 


THE    AFGHAN    QUESTION.  149 

CHAPTEK  X. 

THE  AFGHAN  QUESTION. 


Independently  of  its  vital  importance  to  the  present, 
or  to  a  future  generation  whom  it  may  involve  in  one 
of  the  most  dire  wars  the  world  has  ever  witnessed, 
the  question  of  the  Afghan  frontier  has  a  peculiar 
archaic  interest.  It  is  the  liquidation  of  the  old  quarrel 
between  the  Irans  and  the  Turans  or  Scyths,  which 
carries  us  back  to  the  time  of  Herodotus,  and  its  final 
settlement  will  be  the  outcome  of  the  secular  struggle 
between  the  mountaineers  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
steppes  of  Central  Asia.  It  is  curious,  too,  to  see  an 
empire,  composed  of  at  least  twenty  different  races, 
acting  as  the  champion  of  the  great  ethnological  prin- 
ciple, as  the  basis  of  national  unity,  which  has  been 
made  the  pretext  of  so  much  diplomatic  manipula- 
tion in  Europe,  during  the  nineteenth  century. 

Unwittingly,  Russia  1ms  acquitted  herself  of  the 
mission  of  conferring  political  unity  on  Asiatic  races, 
who  were  ethnologically  linked  together,  though 
separated,  politically,  for  centuries.  But  her  work  is 
still  incomplete,  and  the  question  of  the  future  is  : 
Why  should  the  Turcomans  of  Afghanistan  not  rejoin 
the  community  of  the  Turcomans  of  the  steppes, 
united  under  the  scepter  of  the  Czar  of  all  the  Russias  ? 

Bismarck  found  that,  according  to  the  ethnological 
principle,  the  Gallicised  Germans  on  the  left  bank  of 


150  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

the  Rhine  ought  to  rejoin  their  congeners  on  the  right 
bank,  and  thereupon  Alsace  and  Lorraine  were  incor- 
porated with  the  German  Empire.  Europe  and  Eng- 
land assented.  What  objection  can  they  make,  if 
some  day  Russia  decide  that  the  Turcomans  of  the 
right  and  left  banks  of  the  Oxus  should  also,  in  virtue 
of  these  laws,  be  united  under  the  same  government ; 
that  Wakhan,  Shignan,  Roshan  and  other  Khanate& 
which  were  formerly  dependencies  of  Bokhara  should 
rejoin  their  congeners,  and  all  form  part  of  the  great 
Slav  Empire  in  the  East  ? 

"  Afghan  Turkestan  must  rejoin  Russian  Turke- 
stan," said  the  Nihilist  Prince  Krapotkin,  and  Elisee 
Reclus,  whose  collaborator  he  was  in  the  "  New  Uni- 
versal Geography,"  distinctly  includes  in  Russian  Asia 
the  dubitable  territory,  which  the  Anglo-Russo  Con- 
vention of  1885  agreed  to  leave  under  the  government 
of  the  Ameer  of  Afghanistan.  "  Geographically,  the 
"  upper  Oxus  and  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Iran 
"  and  Afghan  plateau  belong  to  the  Arlo-Caspian 
"  basin,  and  the  growing  influence  of  the  Slav  power 
"  cannot  fail,  sooner  or  later,  to  unite  in  a  single  politi- 
"  cal  group  the  various  parts  of  this  region."  "  Geogra- 
phic Universelle,"  Yol.  XI,  Ch.  III. 

In  signing  the  aforesaid  Convention,  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Czar  reserved  the  usual  loophole  of 
unforeseen  circumstances  and  the  case  of  physical 
necessity,  which  soon  presented  itself.  The  Afghan 
patrols  who  occupied  Pendjeh  rendered  themselves 
obnoxious  to  General  Komaroff,  and  he  straightway 
dislodged  them,  and  established  himself  there,  as  he 
had  already  done  at  Zulincar  near  Herat.  The  English 


THE    AFGHAN    QUESTION.  151 

were  indignant  at  what  they  considered  a  breach  of 
faith  on  the  part  of  Russia.  War  seemed  inevitable,, 
but  fortunately  for  the  world,  both  nations,  for  reasons 
of  their  own,  earnestly  desired  peace.  Gladstone,, 
who  had  borne  the  brunt  of  Tory  sarcasms,  for  his 
naive  faith  in  the  Czar's  honorable  policy,  reaped  the- 
fruit  of  his  far-sighted,  liberal  friendship  for  Russia. 
Had  the  relations  of  the  Cabinets  of  St.  Petersburg: 
and  St.  James  been  strained  at  this  time,  as  would 
have  been  the  case  under  a  Derby  or  a  Salisbury 
administration,  war  would  certainly  have  broken  out. 

To  have  averted  another  wicked,  senseless  waste  of 
life  and  treasure,  like  the  Crimean  War,  and  brought 
about  an  amicable  settlement,  is  not  the  least  of  the 
many  services  by  which  the  Grand  Old  Man  has- 
achieved  an  everlasting  name  in  the  annals  of  great 
statesmen. 

A  survey  by  experts  was  resolved  upon,  and  the 
debatable  territory  was  unequally  divided  between 
Russia's  subjects  and  England's  proteges.  The  former 
retained  most  of  the  places  occupied  by  General 
Komaroff,  while  the  Ameer  of  Afghanistan  was  recog- 
nized as  Suzerain  of  the  little  Khanates  of  the  Upper 
Oxus,  regardless  of  ethnological  and  geographical  con- 
siderations. 

And  this  till  when  ? 

Afghanistan,  with  its  four  millions  of  Afghans, 
Irans  and  Turans,  has  always  been  a  thorn  in  the  side 
of  British  India.  On  the  effete  Mogul  races,  and  on 
the  turbulent  Maharattas,  she  could  impose  her  yoke. 
But  these  Afghan  mountaineers  are  as  uncompromis- 
ing in  their  love  of  independence  as  the  Scotch. 


152  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Physically  too,  the  Afghans  resemble  the  sturdy,  stal- 
wart Highlanders,  and,  when  seen  in  the  marts  and  the 
streets  of  Calcutta,  where  they  hawk  around  grapes 
and  Persian  kittens,  they  present  a  striking  contrast 
with  the  puny  native  inhabitants  of  the  plains  of  Hin- 
doostan. 

In  1838  and  1848,  two  disastrous  campaigns  were 
undertaken  against  this  country  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  square  miles,  "  where  small  armies  are 
annihilated  and  large  ones  die  of  hunger."  But  in 
spite  of  past  experiences,  Anglo-Indian  Russophobists, 
(Sir  Frederic  Roberts  and  General  McGregor,)  actually 
succeeded  in  persuading  the  Tory  Government  of  1879 
that  it  was  urgent  to  conquer  Afghanistan  in  order  to 
prevent  the  Russians  from  invading  India.  A  quarrel 
was  picked  with  Shere  Ali,  and  an  expedition  was  sent 
against  Herat,  which  proved  a  most  deplorable  fiasco, 
little  short  of  the  humiliating  capitulation  of  the  Brit- 
ish Army  at  Cabool  in  1840. 

What  England  could  not  conquer  she  conciliated 
and  protected.  She  has  successively  maintained  and 
subsidized  the  Ameers  Dost  Mahomed,  Shere  Ali, 
and  now,  Abdur  Rhaman,  the  cidevant  pensioner  of 
the  Russians  at  Samarcand.  And  be  it  said,  en  passant, 
that  all  these  gentlemen  have  more  or  less  played  upon 
Anglo-Indian  "  mervousness  "  for  their  own  purposes. 

By  England's  intervention  Abdur  Rhaman's  fron- 
tiers have  been  delineated.  She  pays  him  a  £120,000 
a  year  for  the  privilege  of  giving  him  good  advice,  and 
as  long*  as  he  is  a  good  boy  and  follows  it,  she  is  en- 
gaged to  maintain  the  integrity  of  his  dominions, 
though  she  may  not  even  have  a  representative  at  his 


THE    AFGHAN    QUESTION.  153 

capital,  where  no  English  are  allowed  to  reside,  even 
in  an  unofficial  capacity.  Now  as  Abdur  Rhaman  has 
drawn  his  little  allowance  regularly,  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed that  England  is  satisfied  with  his  docility,  and 
her  honor  and  prestige  would  be  compromised  in  the 
East,  if  she  did  not  persevere  in  the  policy  she  has 
adopted  with  regard  to  Afghanistan. 

Questionable  policy  to  say  the  least,  for  even  should 
Abdur  Rhaman  be  so  fortunate  as  not  to  be  prema- 
turely deprived  of  his  throne  and  life  by  tribal  dis- 
sensions, and  family  rivalries,  there  will,  almost  inevi- 
tably, be  at  his  death,  a  Russian  and  an  English  candi- 
date for  the  Ameership.  It  is  already  surmised  that 
the  Ameer's  rebellious  cousin,  Ishak,  whose  antagon- 
ism to  the  English  is  notorious,  will  be  Russia's  candi- 
date. 

Moreover  there  is  no  certainty  that  the  Iran  and 
Turan  subjects  of  the  Ameer  and  of  the  Czar  will 
always  abide  by  the  terms  of  the  Convention  of  1885, 
and  content  themselves  with  the  frontiers  assigned  to 
them  by  their  respective  sponsors. 

Now  every  nation  has  the  right  to  extend  its  fron- 
tiers till  they  reach  those  of  a  ruler  able  and  willing  to 
restrain  his  subjects  from  lawless  aggression  on  their 
neighbors.  Therefore,  if  Afghan  marauders  do  not 
respect  Sir  Peter  Lumsden's  boundary  line  in  the  fu~ 
ture,  and  cause  annoyance  to  Russia's  Turanian  sub- 
jects on  the  other  side,  she  will  be  perfectly  justified 
in  taking  the  law  into  her  own  hands,  and  repressing 
them  as  best  she  can;  by  annexing  some  portions  of 
Afghan  territory  if  need  be. 

In   either  case  the  war  which  is  staved  off  for  the 


154  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

present  may  break  out,  and  both  sides  are  well  aware 
of  this,  as  their  continual  preparations  attest.  Raids 
of  the  kind  just  alluded  to,  have  already  occurred  on 
the  Afghan  border  from  time  to  time ;  but  Russia  is- 
not  quite  ready  yet  to  avail  herself  of  some  plausible 
casus  belli.  The  future  contest  will  be  a  Titan  strug 
gle  between  Slav  and  Saxon,  and  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  the  frontiers  of  India.  England  has  in  Hin- 
doostan  an  army  quite  able  to  cope  with  the  Russians, 
but,  thanks  to  the  Trans  Caspian  Railway,  Russia's 
forces  can  be  reinforced  with  comparative  rapidity, 
while  it  may  be  in  her  power  to  cut  off  all  communi- 
cation between  England  and  India,  except  via  Cape 
of  Good  Hope. 

At  the  International  Convention  in  1885,  Russia 
tried,  in  vain,  to  have  the  same  stipulations  made  for 
the  Suez  Canal,  as  those  which  existed  since  the  treaty 
of  Paris,  (1856)  regarding  the  Straits,  (Bosphorus  and 
Dardanelles.)  England,  on  the  contrary,  strenuously 
maintained  that  the  Lesseps  Canal  should  remain 
open  to  all  in  time  of  war,  well  knowing  that  it  would 
be  available  for  her  and  her  friends  only,  as  she  com- 
mands all  entrance  to  and  egress  from  the  Red  Sea, 
by  her  strongholds  at  Aden  and  Ferim.  But  that 
ubiquitous  Russia,  after  exhausting  England's  army 
in  India,  may  some  day  confront  her  on  the  Isthmus 
of  Suez  with  a  few  Kosac  regiments,  for  whom  it 
would  be  only  a  pleasant  ride  from  Kars,  in  the  Trans- 
Caucasian  district,  across  Syria  to  Port  Said.  Asia 
Minor  has  seen  more  remarkable  feats  than  this  ac- 
complished ere  now. 

In  1887  England  and  France,  it  is  true,  signed   an. 


THE    AFGHAN    QUESTION.  155 

agreement  to  the  effect  that  no  hostilities  should  take 
place  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Canal.  But  does 
this  bind  Russia,  any  more  than  the  convention  of  the 
Straits  bound  England,  when  she  saw  fit  to  send  her 
fleet  into  the  Bosphorus,  before  there  had  been  any 
declaration  of  war  ? 

However,  these  are  only  idle  hypotheses.  Russia 
cannot  conquer  India  by  the  force  of  arms,  nor 
can  England  hold  her  Eastern  Empire  by  these 
means.  Even  Asiatic  nations  are  now  too  well  edu- 
cated to  be  held  by  mere  military  despotism.  "What 
England  has  to  fear  from  the  proximity  of  a  Russian 
Empire  at  her  very  doors,  so  to  speak,  in  India,  is 
that  her  Hindoo  and  Mohamedan  subjects  will  begin 
drawing  comparisons  ;  and  if  some  day  they  make  up 
their  minds  that  they  prefer  the  White  Czar's  govern- 
ment to  her  Majesty's,  not  "all  the  King's  horses  nor 
all  the  King's  men,"  could  uphold  British  Empire  in 
India. 

In  an  article  on  "Afghanistan  and  the  Punjab," 
(Contemporary  Review,  January,  1879,)  Professor 
Monier  Williams  writes ;  "Russia  is  far  better  in- 
"  formed  than  we  are  on  all  political  subjects,  Euro- 
"  pean  and  Oriental.  Its  system  assimilates  itself  far 
"  more  readily  than  ours,  to  the  present  condition  of 
"  the  Asiatic  mind.  It  brings  with  it  the  manifest 
"  advantages  of  organized  government  and  security  of 
"  property.  Hence,  Russia's  advance  is  often  wel- 
"  corned  in  Asia  as  a  boon,  where  ours  is  deprecated  as 
"  a  grievance,  or  barely  tolerated  as  a  necessary  inflic- 
"  tion." 

Prestige,  too,  is  an  important  factor  with  Asiatics. 


156  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

The  Trans-Caspian  Hallway  has  impressed  the  Oriental 
mind  far  more  than  the  whole  network  of  Indian 
Railroads,  and  only  less  than  Russia's  triumphal  pro- 
gress in  Central  Asia. 

The  unfortunate  expeditions  of  McGregor  and  Rob- 
erts to  Afghanistan,  in  1879,  coincided  with  the  storm- 
ing of  Gheok  Tepe  by  Skobeleff,  and  both  events  were 
simultaneously  discussed  by  her  Majesty's  Indian  sub- 
jects. With  what  comments,  it  is  easy  to  imagine. 
More  than  ever  is  England  obliged  to  conciliate  them, 
and  above  all,  maintain  her  prestige  in  their  eyes ;  and 
to  do  this,  she  is  bound,  coute  que  coute,  to  adhere  to 
the  policy  she  has  adopted  regarding  Afghanistan. 

Mr.  George  Curzon  does  not  think,  like  Sir  Charles 
Dilke,  that  England  is  obliged,  directly  or  absolutely, 
to  maintain  her  Afghan  protege,  and  the  integrity  of 
his  dominions.  Agreements  between  Governments 
.are  so  very  elastic  and  web-like,  and  have  been  misin- 
terpreted and  broken  so  often,  that  it  would  be  idle  to 
dispute  the  judgment  of  either  of  these  distinguished 
writers. 

Of  this  however,  we  may  rest  assured,  that  were 
England's  protege  worsted,  and  a  Russian  candidate 
established  at  Cabul  on  the  throne  of  the  Ameers,  Eng- 
land's prestige  in  the  East  would  be  a  thing  of  the 
past.  Half-civilized  peoples,  like  young  boys,  do  not 
-stop  to  weigh  points  of  right  and  expediency  ;  the  only 
question  with  them  is,  "  who  licked  ?  "  and  to  him  they 
forthwith  transfer  their  homage  and  allegiance. 

For  these  reasons,  and  for  many  others,  it  is  always 
in  the  power  of  the  Russians  to  annoy  and  harass  Eng- 
land on  her  Indian  frontier.  Though  of  course,  they 


THE    AFGHAN    QUESTION.  15T 

are  not  such  egregious  fools  as  to  think  of  entering 
Afghanistan  "  with  three  columns  of  ninety  thousand 
men "  as  General  McGregor  anticipated,  when  he 
wrote  his  "  Defence  of  India, "  while  suffering  from 
an  acute  attack  of  Russophobia.  Their  plan  would  be 
to  occupy  Herat,  and  let  the  English  take  upon  them- 
selves the  onus  of  penetrating  into  the  fastnesses  of 
Afghan  territory,  to  protect  their  proteges,  and  Sir 
Peter  Lumsderi's  boundary  line,  which  he  might  as- 
well  have  traced  in  the  sands  of  the  desert,  as  between 
Iran  and  Turan  marauders. 

In  view  of  all  these  circumstances,  it  may  well  be 
admitted,  that  the  Russians  have  fairly  succeeded  in 
executing  Prince  Gortchakoff's  programme,  "  of  in- 
"  teresting  England,  materially,  in  appreciating  Russia's 
"friendship,  and  seeking  to  preserve  it," — which,  he  said, 
after  the  Crimean  War,  "  could  only  be  done  by  a 
strong  position  in  Asia."  Such  being  the  case  we 
may  some  day  witness,  instead  of  a  bloody  contest,  an 
Anglo-Russo  alliance,  of  which  the  Sick  Man's  inher- 
itance would  be  the  knot.  England  may  realize  the 
danger  of  again  thwarting  Russia  in  her  views  regard- 
ing the  Balkan  Peninsula.  She  may  find  it  expe- 
dient to  "  agree  with  her  adversary,  while  he  is  in  the 
way,"  and  secure  the  tranquil  possession  of  her  Indian 
Empire,  by  allowing  Russia  the  privilege  of  "  holding 
the  keys  of  her  house  "  in  her  own  hands,  or  that  of 
committing  them  to  the  keeping  of  some  friendly  Slav 
janitor  of  her  own  choice. 


158  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 


CHAPTER  XL 


THE  OTTOMAN  TURKS. 


The  word  Turk  is  not  synonymous  with  Mahometan. 
It  is  a  generic  term,  which  may  be  applied  to,  at  least, 
one-third  of  the  inhabitants  of  Central  Asia.  There 
are  Turk  dialects  which  are  spoken  on  the  banks  of 
the  Lena  in  Siberia,  and  even  beyond  the  Arctic  circle, 
by  men  who  are  still  pagans.  Many  Turkish  dynas- 
ties have  arisen,  flourished,  declined,  and  disappeared, 
.according  to  the  inexorable  laws,  which  regulate  and 
limit  the  lives  of  nations  as  well  as  of  individuals.  For 
nations,  as  well  as  individuals,  have  their  periods  of 
genesis,  adolescence,  maturity,  senility  and  decline. 
And  the  crumbling  away  of  a  national  body,  in  decay, 
often  seems  the  necessary  prelude  for  the  inauguration 
of  a  new  humanitary  cycloid  in  the  world's  existence. 

The  Turkish  empire  of  to-day,  whose  capital  is  Con- 
stantinople, is  that  of  the  Osmanlis  or  Ottoman  Turks, 
and  it  will  not  be  uninteresting  to  consider,  briefly, 
the  origin  of  this  power,  whose  direful  yoke  has 
weighed,  for  five  centuries,  on  the  fairest  lands  of 
Europe,  and  whose  existence  in  these  countries,  once 
the  birthplace  of  European  civilization,  is  an  anomaly, 
which  can  only  be  explained  by  rival  jealousies,  and 
secret  ambitions  of  Christian  rulers,  who  prefer  petty 
national  interests  to  the  larger  ones  of  humanity  and 
progress,  forgetting,  that  they  are  the  descendants  of 


THE    OTTOMAN    TURKS.  159 

the  Crusaders,  who,  from  century  to  century,  armed 
themselves  against  the  encroachments  of  this  same 
Moslem  power. 

But  for  the  decisive  .victory  gained  by  Charles 
Martel  at  Poitiers  in  732,  all  Europe  would  probably 
liave  fallen  beneath  the  yoke  of  the  infidel  Turk. 

Later  on,  the  victories  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
drove  the  Moslem  Moors  from  their  last  strongholds 
in  Spain.  But  the  Osmanlis  Turks,  more  fortunate 
than  their  congeners  in  France  and  Spain,  obtained  a 
firm  footing  on  European  soil,  where  they  still  tyran- 
ize  over  millions  of  oppressed  Christians,  thanks  to 
the  armed  support  given  to  them  by  British  and  Eu- 
ropean Christians,  in  order  to  maintain,  what  is  so  un- 
meaningly called,  the  "balance  of  power." 

It  is  the  history  of  this  branch  of  the  great  Turkish 
family  that  we  would  briefly  review  in  this  chapter. 

The  name  Turk,  became  known  to  Europe,  as  far 
back  as  the  sixth  century,  when  the  chief  of  the  Turks 
or  Tartars  on  the  littoral  of  Lake  Aral,  sent  an  em- 
bassy to  the  Emperor  Justinian.  But  the  term  Ottoman 
or  Osmanlis  was  not  heard  of  till  after  the  Fourth 
Crusade.  About  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century 
Ertogrul,  the  warrior  chief  of  one  of  the  nomadic 
bands,  who  peopled  Central  Asia,  was  drifting  west- 
ward towards  Armenia,  with  his  four  or  five  hundred 
followers,  when  he  reached  a  battlefield,  where  one 
.side  was  decidedly  losing  ground.  Without  waiting 
to  ascertain  who  the  belligerants  were,  Ertogrul,  the 
"right  hearted,"  as  he  was  surnamed,  took  the  side  of 
the  weaker,  and  found  himself,  unwittingly,  the  bene- 
factor of  the  Sultan  of  Iconium  (Seljuk  dynasty)  who 


160  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

was  struggling  against  a  formidable  army  of  Mongols. 
In  reward  for  Jiis  services,  Ertogrul  received  a  grant 
of  land,  and  became  a  vassal  of  this  Sultan. 

His  son  Osman  or  Othman  and  his  grandson  Ork- 
ham,  gradually  emancipated  themselves  from  their 
allegiance,  and  became  independent  sovereigns,  having 
greatly  increased  their  territory  and  power  by  the  con- 
quest of  Greek  settlements  in  Asia  Minor.  Brusa  Nico- 
media  and  Nicse  were  stepping  stones  to  the  conquest 
of  the  capital  of  the  Greek  empire  itself.  Orkhom's  son 
and  successor,  Armurath  I,  prepared  the  way  to  Con- 
stantinople by  the  conquest  of  Adrianople,  which  re- 
mained the  capital  of  the  Ottoman  empire  till  1453. 

The  Slavs  of  Servia  and  the  Bulgarians,  so  recently 
the  formidable  enemies  of  the  Byzantine  Emperors, 
fell  beneath  the  Moslem  yoke,  though  not  without  a 
struggle.  Their  fate  did  not,  however,  excite  much 
sympathy  in  Europe,  as  they  belonged  to  the  Greek 
schism.  This  fact  has  always  been  an  unfortunate 
circumstance  for  the  Balkan  Slavs,  diminishing  the 
interest  which  would  otherwise  be  felt  in  their  fate  by 
the  rest  of  Christendom.  Latin  Christians,  that  is, 
Roman  Catholics,  have  always  looked  upon  them 
askance,  because  they  did  not  recognize  the  Papal 
supremacy,  though  holding  the  same  tenets  in  every 
other  respect  except  one,  (regarding  the  Holy  Spirit,) 
while  Protestant  Christians  consider  that  they  are  quite 
as  bad,  perhaps  even  worse,  than  regular  Papists,  with- 
out knowing  exactly  why. 

When  the  Catholic  States  of  Bosnia  and  Hungary 
were  attacked,  it  was  a  different  matter.  All  Europe 
was  aroused.  The  Vatican  proclaimed  a  crusade  against 


THE    OTTOMAN    TURKS.  161 

the  Crescent,  which  was  marked  by  the  defeat  of  the 
flower  of  Europe's  chivalry,  ignominionsly  routed  by 
the  Turks  on  the  battlefield  of  Mcopolis,  (1370.) 

In  spite  of  the  defeat  of  Bajazet  I  in  1403  by  the 
victorious  Tamerlane,  and  of  ten  years  of  interregnum 
and  civil  war,  the  Ottoman  policy  of  aggrandizement 
was  resumed  by  his  successor,  Mahomet  I,  (1421.) 
Under  Amurath  II  Constantinople  was  besieged,  for 
the  first  time,  and  it  was  finally  taken  by  Mahomet  II, 
in  1453. 

The  eloquent,  historian  of  the  Rise  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  has  surpassed  himself  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  this  tragic  event,  which  marks  an  important 
era  in  European  history, — the  beginning  of  what  are 
known  as  the  Dark,  or  Middle  Ages. 

The  last  of  the  Western  Caesars  redeemed,  in  his 
honorable  defeat,  the  fallen  glories  of  the  descendants 
of  Constantine  the  Great.  But  all  the  heroism  of 
Constantine  Dragases  and  his  Paladins  was  unavailing. 
Constantinople  was  captured,  sacked  and  pillaged  by 
Tartar  hordes,  as  Rome  had  been  by  Attila  and  his 
barbarians,  some  centuries  before.  The  latter  were, 
however,  absorbed  by  the  superior  civilization  they 
had  overpowered.  And  out  of  the  debris  of  the 
Roman  Empire  of  the  East  arose  a  new  and  better 
world.  In  the  Western  Empire  of  the  Caesars,  unfor- 
tunately, no  such  transformation  occurred. 

In  1454  the  Peleponnesus  was  conquered,  and  Otto- 
man supremacy  was  also  recognized  in  Asia  Minor  by 
the  ambiguous  and  romantic  Trebizond,  with  its  shift- 
ing nationality  and  vague  frontiers,  which  included 
parts  of  Georgia,  Armenia  and  the  Crimea.  Walla- 
11 


162  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

cliia  and  Albania  were  also  subjugated  about  the  same 
time,  in  spite  of  the  heroic  resistance  of  patriots  like 
Huniades  and  Scanderbeg,  while  the  Khans  of  the 
Crimea,  the  successors  of  Russia's  enslavers,  sought 
an  arbitrator,  and  found  a  master  in  Mahomed  II. 
His  successor,  Bajazet  II,  was  by  no  means  as  illus- 
trious. But  under  Selim  the  empire  of  Mahomed  II 
was  nearly  doubled.  Armenia  and  the  Kurd  districts, 
Egypt  and  Syria  were  conquered,  and  Persia  narrowly 
escaped  the  same  fate. 

Selim  proclaimed  himself  the  champion  of  the 
Sunnite  or  Orthodox  Mahomedans.  as  the  Shah  Ismail 
of  Persia  was  the  chief  of  the  heretic  or  Shiite 
Mahomedans.  Selim  was  essentially  a  proselytiser  and 
a  persecutor.  His  zeal,  not  less  than  his  sword,  con- 
ferred on  him  the  title  of  Sultan  of  Egypt,  and  Calif 
of  the  Sunnite  Mahomedans. 

And  now  began  the  struggle  with  the  Latin  Chris- 
tians. The  Republics  of  Genoa  and  Venice  were  at 
this  time  the  commercial  queens  of  Europe ;  the 
former  reigned  in  the  Black  Sea,  and  the  latter  in  the 
^Egean,  (Ionian,)  with  its  multitudinous  islands.  Kaffa, 
the  great  emporium  of  Genoese  merchants  in  the 
Black  Sea,  was  taken  and  plundered,  and  fifteen  thou- 
sand young  Genoese  were  enlisted  as  janissaries. 

Venice  was  deprived  of  several  important  islands, 
such  as  Lesbos,  Lemnos  and  Cephalonia,  and  she  was 
fain  to  conclude  an  alliance  with  the  Sultan,  in  order 
to  save  her  territory  of  Friuli  from  devastation. 

The  Ottoman  navy  began  to  be  the  most  powerful 
in  Europe,  and  the  coasts  of  Spain  were  ravaged  by 
the  Ottoman  Turks,  by  way  of  avenging  the  expulsion 


THE    OTTOMAN    TURKS.  163 

of  their  cousins,  the  Moors,  from  Granada,  Otranto. 
was  taken  in  1480,  and  nothing  but  the  heroic  resist- 
ance of  Pierre  d'Aubussori,  and  the  Knights  of  St. 
John  could  have  retarded  the  fall  of  Ehodes.  To 
Solyman  the  Magnificent  was  reserved  the  triumph  of 
reducing  this  insular  stronghold,  which  had  repulsed 
his  victorious  predecessor,  Mahomed.  "  There  has 
been  nothing  so  well  lost  in  the  world  as  Rhodes," 
said  Charles  Quint,  when,  after  this  memorable  siege, 
which  lasted  six  months,  he  consoled  the  Grand  Master, 
Lisle  d'Adam  and  his  Knights  with  the  gift  of  the 
Island  of  Malta,  whence,' later  on,  these  valiant  antago- 
nists of  the  Turks  in  the  Holy  Land,  twice  repulsed 
the  Ottoman  fleet. 

In  1526,  Hungary  sought  the  alliance  of  Turkey  in 
her  struggle  for  independence  against  Austria.  The 
Turks  were  defeated  by  the  Austrians  at  Yienna,  in 
1529,  but  this  did  not  prevent  their  acquiring  Hunga- 
rian Territory.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  long 
hostilities  between  Austria  and  the  Sublime  Porte,  of 
which  the  chief  events  were  the  victory  of  Lepanto, 
1571,  where  Don  Juan  of  Austria,  commanding  the 
allied  Spanish,  Venetian  and  Papal  fleets,  routed  the 
Turks  under  AH  Pacha ;  and  the  great  battle  of  Saint 
Gothard  on  the  Raab,  where  the  French  and  Aus- 
trians, under  Monteenculli,  defeated  the  Turks  in 
1664.  In  1683,  Sobieski,  King  of  Poland,  gained  two 
signal  victories  over  them  at  Lemberg,  and  at  Yienna  ; 
they  were  finally  routed,  at  Zenta,  (on  Theiss,  1696, 
a  tributary  of  the  Danube,)  by  Austria  and  her  allies, 
commanded  by  Eugene  of  Savoy  ;  while  from  another 
quarter,  these  Moslems  were  beginning  to  be  harassed 


164  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

by  their  most  persistent  and  formidable  enemy T 
Russia. 

"With  the  Czar  they  concluded  an  armistice  of  two 
years ;  and  with  the  allied  Powers,  the  treaty  of 
Carlowitz  was  signed,  (1696,)  by  which  the  Morea  was 
given  back  to  the  Venetians,  Podolia  to  the  Poles,  and 
a  large  portion  of  Hungary  to  Austria. 

At  the  preliminary  conference,  which  was  held  by 
the  Powers,  Holland  and  England,  both  at  that  time 
under  the  government  of  William  of  Orange,  were 
represented,  though  they  had  taken  no  part  in  the  wTar. 
It  wTas  the  iirst  recognition  of  an  international  solid- 
arity so  to  speak  ;  and  the  first  indication,  too,  of  the 
interest  England  began  to  feel  in  maintaining  the  "  sick 
man,"  whom  she  has  so  zealously  propped  up  in  more 
recent  times. 

Already  at  this  period,  (1696,)  the  decadence  of  the 
Ottoman  Turks  had  begun."*  The  weakness  of  the 
Sultans  threw  the  administrative  pOAver  into  the 
hands  of  the  Grand  Viziers,  who  began  to  play 
the  same  part  as  the  Mayors  of  the  Palace,  under  the 
degenerate  Frank  Kings. 

During  the  reign  of  Selim,  the  Zealot,  and  the  per- 
secutor, the  Turkish  Empire  was  nearly  doubled,  in 
the  15th  century  as  we  have  already  seen.  The  Otto- 
man Fleet  wras  at  that  time  the  finest  in  Europe,  and 

*Indeed  Baker,  a  most  ardent  Turcophil,  and  Kussophobist,  informs 
us  in  his  work  on  Turkey,  that  "  After  the  possession  of  Constantino- 
ple, (1453,)  we  find  the  Sultans  and  consequently  the  nation,  grad- 
44  ually  becoming  more  apathetic  and  corrupt."  And  that  the  era  of 
"Turkish  Anarchy  commenced  alter  the  occupation  of  Constantino- 
ple, and  lasted  until  Mohamed  11, 1808."  "  Turkey,"  p.,  167. 

If  Mr.  Baker  had  said  "  lasted  to  the  present  day,"  it  would  be  more 
correct.  **  ******* 


THE    OTTOMAN    TURKS.  165 

-u  no  State  had  then  executed  larger  and  better  public 
works  than  the  Turks."  (Dumont.) 

It  was  also  the  period  of  the  building  of  the  great 
Mosques,  which  are  falling  into  ruins  to-day,  for  want 
of  funds  to  keep  them  in  repair.  The  cause  of  the 
decline  of  the  Osnianlis  Turks,  is  attributable  chiefly 
to  the  cooling  of  their  religious  enthusiasm,  and  the 
lack  of  battle  fields.  Religious  fanaticism,  leading  to 
war  and  conquest,  was  the  generating  principle  of 
Mahomedan  power  from  the  beginning,  and  with  the 
weakening  of  this  sentiment,  there  came  a  correspond- 
ing decline  in  the  power  of  the  government. 

Though  the  Turks  are  less  amenable  to  proselytis- 
ing influence  than  any  other  nation,  and  have  rarely 
embraced  Christianity  in  any  form,  they  did  not  escape 
the  anti-religious  current  which  has  pervaded  Europe 
.since  the  seventeenth  century,  and,  as  religious  faith, 
was,  with  them,  the  source  of  all  courage,  devotion 
and  loyalty,  these  qualities,  necessarily  diminished  and 
disappeared,  with  the  parching  up  of  the  fountain 
head. 

European  civilization  provided  codes  of  honor,  as 
well  as  social  and  legal  mechanisms,  to  restrain  lawless 
propensities,  thus  substituting  civic  virtues,  for  those 
inspired  by  religion.  But,  in  Turkey,  unfortunately, 
no  such  substitution  was  made. 

Other  Mohammedan  nations,  the  Saracens,  the 
Moors  in  Spain,  the  Moguls  in  India,  have  achieved 
much,  both  in  art  and  in  science,  but  these 
Osmanlis  Turks  have  never  been  anything  but 
a  military  power,  the  incarnation  of  brute  force. 
.Since  five  hundred  years  they  are  nothing  but 


166  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

an  "army  of  occupation  in  a  conquered  coun- 
try." ~No  bonds  of  amity  or  affinity  have  ever  ex- 
isted between  them  and  the  nations  of  Europe,  by 
whom  they  have  always  been  regarded  as  aliens  and 
intruders.  Like  Ishmael  of  old,  their  "hand  has  been 
against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  has  been 
against  them."  To  all  Slav  nations,  to  Russia  in  par- 
ticular, the  Moslem  Tartar  or  Turk  was  a  natural  and 
irreconcilable  enemy,  and  they  lost  no  opportunity  of 
reminding  him  of  the  fact. 

Venice  and  Genoa,  the  two  great  maritime  powers 
of  Europe,  before  the  scepter  of  the  ocean  passed  to 
England,  never  recovered  from  the  wounds  inflicted 
by  Turkey.  Spain  resented  the  piratical  aid  they  gave 
to  their  kindred,  the  Moors;  and  Austria,  the  wars 
waged  against  her  on  behalf  of  Hungary,  herself  the 
rueful  victim  of  her  cruel,  greedy,  devastating  ally. 

It  is  true  that  Elizabeth  of  England,  styling  herself 
the  "unconquered  and  puissant  defender  of  the  faith 
against  the  idolaters  who  profess  the  name  of  Christ," 
(Roman  Catholics,)  bespake  the  help  of  Amurath's 
navy  against  Spain,  and  that  Francis  I  sought  their 
alliance  in  his  Italian  wars.  Nevertheless,  it  is  an 
incontrovertible  fact  that  Turkey's  relations  with 
European  nations  in  the  past,  were  never  those  of 
equality  and  friendship. 

Since  the  Treaty  of  Carlowitz,  1696,  they  have  been 
used  only  as  cats-paws  or  as  pawns  in  the  political 
game  by  European  powers,  who  formed  alliances  with 
or  against  them,  with  equal  readiness. 

The  Turks  of  Constantinople,  unlike  other  conquer- 
ors, have  neither  absorbed  the  conquered  races  nor 


THE    OTTOMAN    TURKS.  167 

been  absorbed  by  them.  And  after  centuries  of  domi- 
nation, we  still  see  the  spectacle  of  a  nation  placed 
over  nations,  with  whom  they  have  nothing  in  com- 
mon, and  whose  obedience  is  only  secured  at  the 
sword's  point. 

Difference  of  race  and  their  position  as  conquerors, 
cannot  explain  this  phenomenon  of  non-amalgamation, 
for  all  the  nations  of  Europe  have  begun,  more  or  less, 
by  a  conquest ;  but  the  fusion  of  the  conquered  and 
the  conquerors  has  always  taken  place  sooner  or  later. 

This  fusion,  however,  can  never  take  place  between 
Turks  and  any  Christian  people  while  both  remain 
themselves,  and  Turkish  influence  is  paramount.  For 
the  two  systems  are  radically  opposed  on  the  very 
points  which  constitute  their  respective  identities,  and 
distinguish  Eastern  from  Western  nations.  These  two 
points  are  polygamy,  and  its  concomitant,  slavery.  For 
here  it  may  well  be  said  that  "deep  calleth  unto 
deep."  Slavery  leads  to  polygamy,  and  polygamy 
leads  to  slavery. 

It  may  be  objected  that  both  polygamy  and  slavery 
have  existed  among  Christian  nations.  This  is  true, 
but  with  the  important  difference,  that  both  were 
utterly  abhorrent  to  the  genius  and  teachings  of 
Christianity,  and  were  inevitably  destined  to  be 
stamped  out  sooner  or  later.  Nor  is  this  all. 

It  is  a  fundamental  law  of  Mahometan  ism  that  there 
shall  be  among  Moslems  no  amalgamation  with  Chris- 
tians, whom  their  creed  enjoins  them  to  consider,  and 
to  treat  as  "dogs."  Whoever  has  lived  in  Mussulman 
countries  understands  the  full  force  of  the  opprobrious 
epithet.  It  does  not  refer  to  the  noble  domestic  canine 


108  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

we  are  accustomed  to,  in  civilized  countries,  but  to 
that  multitude  of  despised,  homeless  curs,  which  hang 
around  native  villages,  and  are  often  driven  by  hunger 
and  ill-treatment,  to  betake  themselves  to  the  savage 
state,  where  they  join  the  community  of  the  jackals, 
which  appear  to  be  half  wolves  and  half  dogs. 

Social  and  political  equality  between  Turks  and 
Christians  is,  therefore,  utterly  incompatible  with  the 
genius  and  the  organism  of  Mahometanisrn,  and  to 
treat  them  on  a  par,  would  be  a  burning  away  of 
barriers,  that  implied  nothing  less  than  a  renunciation 
by  the  Turks  of  their  own  existence,  as  a  political 
and  religious  body. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  it  seems  marvelous,  that 
British  statesmsn  should  ever  have  believed,  or  affected 
to  believe  in  the  possibility  of  effecting  any  radical 
reforms  in  the  Turkish  government  of  Christian  na- 
tions. 

It  is  a  common  saying  that  u  the  wish  is  father  to 
the  thought."  And  as  the  English  were  determined 
to  support  the  Ottomans,  in  order  to  prevent  Russian 
expansion  on  the  Black  Sea,  they  were  fain  to  per- 
suade themselves  and  the  world,  that  they  could  pur- 
sue their  policy  in  this  regard,  without  grossly  sinning 
against  the  rights  of  humanity,  by  maintaining  incor- 
rigible oppressors  of  many  millions  of  Christians. 

And  thus  it  happens  that  from  year  to  year,  the 
"  quart  d'heure  de  Rabelais,"  is  indefinitely  prolonged 
for  these  irreclaimable  miscreants.  Whenever  new 
wrong  doings  come  to  light,  it  is  pleaded  that  Russian  in- 
trigue hampers  the  Turks,  that  "  they  must  have  time  " 
to  carry  out  the  long  promised  reforms  ;  and  the  blame 


THE    OTTOMAN    TURKS.  169 

of  the  non-fulfilment  of  often  reiterated  promises  is 
laid  everywhere,  except  where  it  really  lies. 

England's  policy  regarding  Turkey   has  been   eu- 
phemistically described  by.  a  recent  writer  as  a  singular 
infelicity.       "  It   is,    beyond    dispute,    writes   Robert 
"  Mackenzie,  a  singular  infelicity,  that  a  great  Christian 
"  State  should  feel  herself  impelled  by  any  considera- 
"  tion  of  her  own  advantage  to  the  performance  of  a 
"  task,  which  involves  consequences  so  lamentable." 
"(The  Nineteenth  Century,"  a  history,  page  402.) 
Posterity,   we    think  will   use  harsher  terms  in  de- 
scribing England's  attitude  in  the  Eastern  Question. 


170  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 


CHAPTEK  XII. 


TUECO    RUSSO    WARS. 


We  have  seen  that  there  is  among  the  Russians  a 
traditional  belief  in  their  hereditary  right  to  Constan- 
tinople, and  that  there  are  moreover,  historical,  reli- 
gious and  ethnological  reasons  for  regarding  all  Turks 
as  natural  enemies,  whom  it  is  their  mission  to  lose  no 
opportunity  of  weakening  and  expunging  from  the 
map  of  Europe. 

The  crusade  of  extirpation  from  Russian  soil  was 
begun  by  the  Grand  Duke  Dimitri  Donskoy,  who 
drove  the  Tartars  from  the  basin  of  the  Don.  It  was 
continued  by  Ivan  the  Third,  (the  Great)  at  the  insti- 
gation of  his  wife,  Sophie  Paleologus,  niece  and  heiress 
of  the  last  Greek  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  whom 
the  Turks  had  overthrown.  And,  finally,  Ivan  IY 
(the  Terrible)  drove  the  Moslems  from  their  last 
strongholds  of  Kazan,  (1552)  and  of  Astrakhan, 
(1554.)  The  defeat  of  Kazan  was  to  the  Turks  in 
Russia,  what  the  defeat  of  Abderarne  by  Charles  Mar- 
tel,  and  the  battle  of  Las  Navas  de  Tolosa,  were  to  them 
in  France  and  in  Spain.  The  back  bone  of  their 
power  in  these  countries  was  broken  forever.  The 
vast  regions  of  Siberia  were  also  conquered  from  the 
Tartars  during  the  reign  of  Ivan  the  Fourth,  and  this 


TURCO    RUSSO    WARS.  171 

conquest  was  the  beginning  of  Russia's  reprisals  in 
Asia,  against  her  ci-devant  dominators. 

However,  the  Khans  of  the  Crimea,  who  were  vas- 
sals of  the  Sultan,  still  'remained,  and  they  were 
troublesome  and  treacherous  neighbors.  The  first  ex- 
pedition undertaken  against  Azof  (1695)  failed,  for 
want  of  a  navy.  The  undaunted  Peter  the  Great 
immediately  assembled  twenty-six  thousand  workmen  ; 
and  with  the  aid  of  foreign  officers  and  engineers,  a 
rough  flotilla  was  rapidly  improvised,  none  working 
harder  than  the  royal  "  Carpenter  of  Saardam  "  him- 
self. Twenty-two  galleys,  a  hundred  rafts  and  seven- 
teen barks,  all  made  of  unseasoned  timber,  such  were 
the  humble  beginnings  of  this  navy,  which  now  holds, 
perhaps,  the  foremost  rank  in  Europe.  For,  since  1881r 
Russia  has  been  building  at  the  rate  of  about  four 
armor  clads  and  as  many  cruisers  every  year.  Azof 
was  taken,  (1696)  and  Peter  returned  in  triumph  to 
Moscow.  Even  the  national  party,  who  hated  and  an- 
tagonized his  foreign  innovations,  smiled  upon  the 
victor  of  the  Moslems,  forgot  their  shaven  chins,  and 
half  forgave  his  blasphemous  contempt  for  their  an- 
tique usages. 

A  few  years  later,  Peter,  in  endeavoring  to  extend 
the  Russian  frontier  to  the  Baltic  sea,  involved  himself 
in  a  Avar  with  Sweden  and  Poland.  The  moment 
was  favorable  for  the  Turks  to  recover  Azof,  and 
they  declared  war  against  Russia. 

The  Russians,  elated  with  their  recent  victories  over 
the  Swedes  and  Poles,  entered  into  the  new  crusade 
with  enthusiasm.  They  thrillei  with  delight  at  the 
prospect  of  retracing  the  footsteps  of  their  Vareg: 


172  SLAV     AND     MOSLEM. 

Princes,  who  hung  their  shields  on  the  walls  of  Con- 
stantinople many  centuries  ago.  The  prospect  of 
exterminating  the  old  enemies  of  the  Slav  and  affran- 
chising their  brother  Christians  in  the  Balkan  Penin- 
sula, seemed  so  certain.  Wallachia,  Moldavia,  Servia, 
Montsnegro  and  even  the  Greeks,  invoked  the  advent 
of  Peter  the  Great,  in  whom  they  saw  a  champion 
.and  a  liberator.  They  eagerly  promised  their  co-ope- 
ration, but,  at  the  critical  moment,  they  all  failed  him. 
And  Peter,  with  only  thirty-eight  thousand  men,  was 
surrounded  on  the  banks  of  the  Pruth,  by  an  army  of 
two  hundred  thousand  Turks  and  Tartars.  After  a 
brave  but  hopeless  struggle,  in  which  eight  thousand 
janissaries  perished,  nothing  was  left  but  to  capitulate. 
The  Treaty  of  Pruth  (1711)  was  signed,  and  Azof  was 
surrendered  to  the  Turks. 

The  Black  Sea  was  lost  to  Russia  for  the  present, 
but  Peter  took  advantage  of  troubles  in  the  Empire  of 
the  Shah,  to  gain  a  footing  on  the  Caspian  Sea.  The 
now  important  town  of  Bakou  was  taken,  and  Daghes- 
tar  and  Asterabad  were  occupied. 

To  punish  the  Russians  for  the  part  they  had  taken 
in  the  defeat  of  Stanislas  Lezenski,  their  candidate  to 
the  crown  of  Poland,  the  French  incited  the  Turks  to 
declare  war  against  Russia  again.  This  war  lasted 
four  years,  and  was  ended  by  the  Treaty  of  Belgrade, 
(1739,)  brought  about  by  the  mediation  of  Austria,  to 
whom  the  proximity  of  the  Russians,  was  far  more 
objectionable,  than  that  of  the  Turks  themselves.  Rus- 
sia gave  back  all  her  conquests,  except  a  strip  of  terri- 
tory between  the  Boug  and  the  Dneiper. 

In  1768,  the  Duke  DeChoiseul,  by  way  of  operating 


TURCO    RUSSO    WARS.  173 

a  diversion  in  favor  of  Poland,  urged  the  Turks  again 
to  declare  war  against  Russia.  A  violation  of  fron- 
tier by  Russian  Troops,  in  pursuit  of  "  Haidmak " 
marauders,  was  made  the  casusbeUi  of  this  war,  which 
resulted  disastrously  for  Turkey,  and  indirectly  so,  for 
Poland,  whom  the  European  Powers  sacrificed  to  the 
victorious  Bear,  so  as  to  induce  him  to  relinquish  some 
of  his  spoils  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula.  For,  Russia 
had  not  only  re-conquered  Azof  and  the  Crimea,  but 
she  had  also  taken  Bessarabia,  Wallachia,  Moldavia, 
part  of  Bulgaria,  and  some  of  the  Ionian  Isles  ;  and 
her  victorious  army  was  at  the  very  gates  of  Constan- 
tinople. 

The  Sultan,  Abdhul  Hainid,  signed  with  Catherine 
II,  the  treaty  of  Kairnadji,  (1774,)  by  which  Russia 
acquired  a  right  of  Protectorate  over  the  Christian 
subjects  of  the  Sultan,  to  whom  the  latter  promised  to 
accord  a  general  amnesty,  for  the  part  they  had  taken 
in  the  war. 

Russia  also  obtained  many  strategic  points  on  the 
Black  Sea,  and  thus  prepared  the  way  to  the  annexa- 
tion of  the  whole  littoral.  The  Crimea,  a  tributary  of 
the  Sultan,  was  also  declared  independent  by  the 
treaty  of  Kairnadji.  But,  during  the  years  which  fol- 
lowed, the  Khanat  was  the  scene  of  perpetual  anarchy 
and  civil  war,  between  the  party  that  favored  the 
Russians,  and  the  party  who  inclined  to  the  Sultan. 
Thirty-five  thousand  Christians,  (Greek  and  Roman 
Catholics  and  Armenians,)  emigrated  to  Russia,  (1780,) 
and  in  1793  the  Czar  formally  annexed  this  peninsula 
whence  Tartar  Hordes,  had,  since  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, sallied  forth  incessantly,  to  burn,  pillage  and 


174  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

destroy  unfortunate  Russian  villages  and  towns.  Thus, 
was  obliterated  the  last  memento  of  the  hateful 
Mongol  domination.* 

About  this  time  Catherine  II  and  Joseph  II,  of 
Austria,  were  forming  what  was  known  as  the  "  Greek 
Project,"  the  object  of  which  was  the  re-constitution 
of  the  Byzantine  Empire,  as  it  existed  under  the 
"Western  Caesars.  The  Grand  Duke  Constantine  Paulo- 
vitch,  it  was  agreed,  should  renounce  all  his  rights  to 
the  Muscovite  throne,  and  reign  at  Constantinople. 
Meanwhile  Catherine  took  Circassia  under  her  pro- 
tection, and  during  her  journey  through  this  country, 
triumphal  arches  were  everywhere  erected,  with  the 
defiant  inscription,  "  Road  to  Byzantium."  Of  course, 
the  Sultan  could  not  be  expected  to  look  on  unmoved. 
In  1787  he  sent  an  ultimatum,  requiring  the  Russians 
to  relinquish  their  protectorat  over  his  vassal  Herac- 
lius,  prince  of  Circassia,  and  claiming  also  the  right  to 
make  perquisitions  on  Russian  vessels  navigating  the 
Straits,  as  well  as  that  of  sending  commissions  to  all 
the  Russian  ports.  A  flat  refusal  to  each  and  every 
demand  was  the  only  reply  vouchsafed.  And  again, 
war  broke  out  between  these  irreconcilable  neighbors. 
The  Russians  were  ill  prepared  for  hostilities  at  this 
moment,  as  a  violent  storm  had  just  dismantled  their 
fleet  in  the  Black  Sea.  But  the  promptitude  and 
energy  of  the  Great  Catherine  supplied  all  deficiencies, 
met  all  emergencies,  and  prepared  victories  for  her 

*Nor  have  these  descendants  of  the  Tartars  of  the  Golden  Horde, 
had  reason  to  regret  the  change.  In  September,  1854,  the  villagers 
of  Eskel,  assured  Mr.  Kinglake  that  "They  wished  for  no  change, 
"and  excused  their  content  in  their  simple  way  by  saying  that  for 
"three  generations  their  race  had  lived  happy  under  the  Czars." 
{"Crimean  War.") 


TURCO    RUSSO    WARS.  175 

people,  where  disasters  might  well  have  been  feared. 
Her  correspondence  with  her  generals  and  admirals, 
at  this  time,  well  entitles  her  to  the  surname  of 
"  Semiramis  of  the  North." 

Koutouzof,  Poteinkin  and  the  impetuous  Sovarof 
reaped  many  laurels  on  Turkish  soil.  And  finally, 
the  Sultan,  finding  that  the  Russian  fleet  was  danger- 
ously near  Constantinople,  negotiated  for  peace,  which 
was  concluded  at  Yassy  1792.  Russia  obtained  Otcha- 
kof  and  the  littoral  between  the  Bong  and  the 
Dneister,  and  stipulated  for  new  guarantees  on  behalf 
of  the  Daiiubian  principalities.  Austria  had  been 
Russia's  ally  during  the  greater  part  of  this  campaign. 

But  peace  between  Russia  and  Turkey  can  never  be 
anything  but  a  truce.  At  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  the  Sultan,  at  the  instigation  of  his  ally, 
Bonaparte,  again  declared  war  against  Russia,  then 
combined  with  England,  Prussia  and  Austria  to  over- 
throw the  First  Consul.  By  way  of  picking  a  quarrel, 
the  treaty  of  Yassy  was  violated  by  the  deposition 
and  exile  of  the  hospadors  of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia. 

At  the  same  time  the  Janissaries  of  Servia  were 
braving  the  Sultan,  on  the  one  hand,  and  driving  the 
Christians  to  revolt  by  their  cruelty  on  the  other.  The 
Porte  authorized  the  armed  resistance  of  the  Chris- 
tian peasantry  against  his  turbulent  Janissaries,  but 
when  the  former  were  ordered  to  lay  down  their  arms 
and  give  up  the  fortresses  they  had  taken,  they  re- 
fused to  do  so,  and  under  the  leadership  of  Kara 
George,  a  pork  merchant,  the  Servians  proclaimed 
their  independence. 

However,  they  would  soon  have  been  overpowered 


176  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

by  superior  forces,  if  Russia  had  not  come  to  the 
rescue  of  these  brave  patriots. 

At  Tilsit,  where  Bonaparte  treated  with  the  allied 
powers,  whom  he  had  defeated  at  Austerlitz,  Fried- 
land  and  Eylau,  there  was  a  secret  agreement  entered 
into  by  Napoleon  and  the  Tzar,  Alexander  the  First, 
to  deprive  the  Sultan  of  all  his  European  provin- 
ces, if  he  did  not  soon  come  to  terms  with  the  Ser- 
vians. The  perspective  of  an  unmolested  high  road 
to  Constantinople,  made  Alexander  the  dupe  of  Napo- 
leon, who  was  betraying  his  Turkish  catspaw  only  in 
order  to  secure  Russia's  neutrality,  and  thus  forward 
his  own  ambitious  projects  in  Spain  and  Portugal,, 
where  he  was  preparing  to  dethrone  the  Bourbons 
and  the  House  of  Braganza. 

The  Franco-Russo  alliance  found  no  partisans  in 
Russia,  but  the  Tzar  and  his  minister  Speranski.  It 
was  openly  antagonized  by  the  Russians  ;  and  Savary, 
the  French  ambassador,  complained,  "that  every  door 
"  in  Saint  Petersburg  was  closed  against  him,  while 
"  in  the  churches,  public  prayers  were  offered  against 
"  France  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte."  (So  much  for 
Russian  Slavishness.)  The  tragedies  of  Borodino  and 
Moscow,  a  few  years  later,  fully  justified  the  antagon- 
ism of  the  nation,  for  this  "traitrous  place,"  as  it  was 
called  by  the  English  ambassador. 

The  Turco-Russian  war  continued  till  1812,  when 
it  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  Treaty  of  Bucharest, 
Russia  retained  Bessarabia,  with  the  fortresses  of 
Bender  and  Khotin.  The  Pruth  and  the  lower  Dan- 
ube, with  the  strongholds  of  Ismail  and  Kilia,  marked 
the  boundary  line  between  the  two  empires  ;  the  hos- 


TURCO    RUSSO    WARS.  177 

paclors  of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  'were  reinstated, 
and  the  autonomy  of  Servia,  under  the  government  of 
Kara  George,  and  a  national  assembly  (Souptchkina) 
was  stipulated  for. 

But  the  treaty  of  Bucharest,  too,  was  cast  to  the 
winds,  almost  immediately,  by  the  perfidious  Turk. 

In  1812-1813,  while  Russia  was  engaged  in  a  life 
and  death  struggle  with  Napoleon,  on  her  own  terri- 
tory, Servia' s  new  born  liberty  was  cruelly  stamped 
out,  and  her  leaders  fled,  or  were  tortured  to  death  by 
their  barbarous  task-masters,  the  Ottoman  Turks,  from 
whom  they  thdught  they  had  escaped. 

One  patriot,  Miloch  Obrenovitch,  still  held  the  Mos- 
lems at  bay,  to  some  extent.  Encouraged  and  aided 
by  Russia,  he  gave  the  signal  for  a  new  insurrection 
when  the  oppression  became  intolerable.  And  the 
Porte  was  again  compelled  to  recognize  the  indepen- 
dence of  Servia.  The  whole  Balkan  Peninsula,  and 
even  the  Greek  islands,  throbbed  in  sympathy,  and 
were  repressed  relentlessly.  The  Mussulman  popula- 
tion rose  in  a  mass  against  the  Christians.  The  Greek 
patriarch,  three  arch-bishops,  eight  bishops  and  thous- 
ands of  Christians,  were  massacred  on  Easter  Sunday, 
(1821.) 

Alexander  the  First,  who  seems  to  have  fallen  a 
victim  to  some  moral  marasma,  towards  the  end  of 
his  glorious  and  eventful  reign,  intervened,  but  very 
feebly  and  ineffectually,  and  the  persecution  of  the 
Christians  continued  until  the  Tzar's  premature  and 
mysterious  death,  which  has  been  attributed  by  some 
to  his  failure  to  accomplish  his  mission,  as  the  manda- 
tory of  the  Slav  vendetta  against  the  Moslem. 
12 


ITS  SLAV   AND    MOSLEM. 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 

THE  CRIMEAN  WAR. 

When  Nicholas  ascended  the  throne  (1825-1855,) 
he  made  it  his  first  duty  to  call  the  Turks  to  account 
for  the  outrages  committed  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula, 
and  the  violation  of  the  treaties  regarding  the  Danu- 
bian  principalities.  The  Sultan  submitted  to  Russia's 
ultimatum,  and  agreed  to  the  stipulations  of  the  Con- 
vention of  Ackerman,  (1827,)  which  did  little  more 
than  confirm  the  Treaty  of  Bucharest.  It  was  a  new 
and  formal  recognition  of  Russia's  protectorate  over 
the  Eastern  Christians,  and  her  right  to  free  naviga- 
tion in  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Straits. 

"With  regard  to  Greece,  Nicholas  acted  in  concert 
with  England  and  France. 

The  three  allied  powers  demanded  the  recognition 
of  Greek  independence,  and  the  Sultan  responded  to 
their  ultimatum  by  sending  an  army  into  the  Morea, 
(October,  1827.)  The  Ottoman  fleet  was  destroyed  at 
Navarino  by  the  allies.  The  French  expelled  the 
Turkish  army  from  Greece,  and  the  Russians  occupied 
Moldavia  and  Wallachia,  took  Varna,  Brailof,  and  in 
Asia  Minor,  the  stronghold  of  Kars.  Scarcely  was  all 
this  accomplished,  when  England  began,  already,  to  re- 
gret her  fit  of  generous  enthusiasm  on  behalf  of  the 
struggling  Greeks,  which  had  brought  about  the  de- 
struction of  the  Turkish  fleet.  The  Russian  bear 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  179 

must  be  muzzled,  and  the  Turk  must  be  upheld  in  be- 
half of  British  interests.  The  glorious  victory  of 
Kavarino  was  actually  alluded  to  in  the  next  Royal 
speech  as  "an  untoward  event."  In  Mr.  Kinglake's 
elegant  language,  "it  was  a  deflection,  caused  by  roman- 
"  tic  sympathy  with  the  Greek  insurgents."  (p.  38,  Yol. 
I,  Crimean  War.) 

Austria  and  France,  for  reasons  of  their  own,  shared 
England's  misgivings,  and  the  way  was  being  pre- 
pared, indirectly,  for  that  monstrous  alliance  of  Christ- 
ian nations  to  crush  the  only  champion  of  the  Eastern 
Christians,  so  recently  their  ally  and  co-operator,  in 
this  glorious  war  of  Greek  Independence,  of  which  the 
poet  Byron  had  been  one  of  the  chief  instigators. 

The  coalition  for  Greek  Independence  marks  an  era 
of  transformation  in  politics,  and  was,  so  to  speak,  the 
last  act  of  old  world  policy  in  Europe.  In  former 
times,  it  was  the  business  of  diplomacy  and  war  to  pre- 
vent the  preponderance  of  a  dynasty,  to  secure  the 
triumph  of  a  principle,  of  a  theory,  of  a  passion  even; 
witness  the  innumerable  wars  of  Succession,  the  wars 
of  Investiture,  the  Thirty  Years'  War  to  maintain  the 
unmaintainable  religious  unity  of  Europe,  and  many 
other  sanguinary  struggles  to  uphold  an  idea. 

But,  henceforth,  commerce,  not  ideas,  will  rule  in 
the  Council  Chambers  of  the  world.  Politics  will  be 
forged  in  counting  houses  and  warehouses,  "where  only 
the  ledger  lives,"  and  in  whose  dusty  atmosphere,  none 
but  merchantable  ideas  are  current.  Wars  will  be  de- 
clared, alliances  will  be  formed,  or  repudiated,  not  ac- 
cording to  any  principles  of  justice,  or  equity,  but 
according  to  their  probable  effect  on  the  pulse  of  the 


180  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

market.  Men  will  be  elected  to  represent  their 
borough,  their  county,  or  their  country,  not  with  regard 
to  personal  merit  or  patriotism  and  capacity,  but  to 
reward  party  services,  or  because  they  will  push  for- 
ward, or  veto  such  and  such  a  bill,  supposed  to  be 
favorable  to  this,  or  that  industry. 

In  consequence  of  this  transformation  the  policy  of 
Russia,  who  is  very  slow  in  her  evolutions,  owing  to 
her  bulk,  and  peculiar  moulding,  became  an  anachron- 
ism. The  idea  of  a  chivalrous  intervention  on  behalf 
of  oppressed  fellow  Slav  Christians,  appeared  quite 
superannuated  and  quixotic  ;  and  it  was  scoffed  at,  or 
attributed  to  motives  of  self  interest  and  ambition. 

In  1829  Turkey  sued  for  peace,  and  signed  two. 
treaties  at  Adrian ople  ;  one  with  the  allied  powers,  and 
one  with  Russia,  in  particular.  By  the  first,  she 
recognized  the  independence  of  Greece.  By  the 
second,  she  surrendered  the  islands  of  the  Danubian 
delta,  renewed  with  Russia  her  former  engagements 
regarding  Moldavia,  Wallachia  and  Servia,  and  con- 
firmed the  right  of  protectorate  over  the  Eastern 
Christians,  given  to  the  Czar  at  Kainardji,  and  re- 
newed, implicitly  at  least,  in  every  succeeding  treaty 
between  Russia  and  Turkey. 

In  1833  the  Khedive,  a  vassal  of  the  Sultan,  had  a 
quarrel  with  a  fellow  vassal,  the  Pacha  of  Syria, 
whose  territory  he  invaded  and  captured  many  strong 
places.  Constantinople  itself,  was  threatened  by  the 
victorious  vassal,  and  it  was  Russia's  aid,  strange  to 
say,  that  the  Sultan  sought  in  this  difficulty.  Count 
Orloff  concluded  with  the  Porte,  the  singular  Treaty 
of  Unkiar  Skelessi,  (1833,)  a  kind  of  defensive  and 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  181 

offensive  alliance,  which,  however,  in  the  relative  posi- 
tions of  the  two  nations,  was  really  equivalent  to  a 
Russian  protectorate  over  Turkey  in  the  near  future. 

The  European  Powers  conld  not,  of  course,  approve 
of  this  arrangement,  so  they  undertook  to  protect 
Turkey,  conjointly  with  Russia. 

In  1839  the  ambitious  Khedive  of  Egypt  again  be- 
gan hostilities.  The  blockade  of  all  the  ports  of  Syria 
and  Egypt  was  declared  by  the  European  Powers; 
Admiral  Stopford  bombarded  Acre,  Napier  defeated 
the  Egyptian  army,  and  made  a  convention  with  the 
Khedive,  promising  that  his  sovereignty  in  Egypt 
should  be  recognized,  if  he  would  withdraw  his  troops 
from  Syria,  and  restore  the  Ottoman  fleet.  The  Sul- 
tan at  first  refused  to  ratify  the  Napier  Convention, 
but  he  was  compelled  to  do  so  by  the  European 
Powers. 

England  had  her  own  little  plans  regarding  Egypt, 
and  the  sovereignty  of  the  Khedive  meant  a  perma- 
nent occupation,  and  a  quasi  Protectorate  over  the 
country. 

England,  however,  still  felt  uneasiness  regard- 
ing her  ally  of  1827  and  1840,  and  by  way  of 
obviating  any  evil  consequences  which  might  result 
from  the  treaty  of  Unkiar  Skelessi,  she  induced  the 
Powers  to  sign  a  Convention,  by  which  it  was  agreed 
that  no  foreign  fleets  should  enter  the  Straits  in  time 
of  peace,  and  the  Sultan  promised  to  do  his  utmost 
to  exclude  them,  if  they  should  attempt  to  do  so,  in  vio- 
lation of  this  Convention  of  1841. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  long  and  prosperous  reign, 
the  Czar  Nicholas  was  destined  to  pay  the  penalty  of 


182  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

too  much  good  fortune.  The  moral  ascendency  lie 
had  exercised  in  Europe,  during  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, the  armed  intervention,  by  which  he  had  saved 
Austria  and  Denmark  from  dismemberment,  and  his 
undisguised  disapprobation  of  revolutionary  France, 
never  satisfied  with  her  rulers,  had  given  umbrage, 
and  excited  jealousies  in  many  quarters,  so  that  when 
the  Crimean  War  broke  out,  the  Russians  stood  alone, 
without  an  ally,  in  their  hour  of  greatest  need.  This 
explains  to  some  extent,  though  it  by  no  means  justi- 
fies, the  attitude  of  the  Powers,  in  1853. 

The  slight  put  upon  the  Greek  Church,  the  pre- 
eminence given  to  the  Latin,  "  the  Question  of  the 
Shrines,"  in  short,  was  a  very  insignificant  matter  in 
itself,  a  mere  tempest  in  a  teapot,  raised  by  Louis 
Napoleon,  who  had  just  made  himself  Emperor  of  the 
French  by  an  infamous  coup  d'etat,  (1852)  and  felt, 
like  all  parvenus,  an  urgent  need  to  dazzle  men's  eyes, 
so  as  to  conceal,  from  their  view,  antecedents,  that  it. 
would  be  desirous  to  have  ignored.  The  Question  of 
the  Shrines,  which  a  witty  Frenchman  called  "  une 
querelle  de  saeristain"  because  a  key  and  a  star  were 
involved,  had  arisen  from  the  shuming  policy  of  the 
Turks,  who,  in  17-10,  had  accorded  certain  privileges 
to  the  Latin  Church  protected  by  France,  but 
had  virtually  cancelled  them,  later  on,  by  more 
important  concessions  made  to  the  Greek  Church 
at  Russia's  demand.  France  having  drifted  into 
Voltairianism,  made  no  demur,  and  allowed  this 
state  of  things  to  go  on  for  nearly  a  century, 
when  it  occurred  to  Louis  Napoleon  that  he  might 
ingratiate  himself  with  newly  revived  Catholi- 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAK.  183 

cism  in  France,  by  making  a  stir  of  zeal  in  the  Holy 
Land.  When  the  question  of  the  Shrines,  or  Holy 
Places  of  Jerusalem  was  settled,  he  was  bound  to  keep 
the  ball  rolling,  and  must  needs  cast  about  for  some 
other  means  of  fixing  on  himself  the  admiring  gaze 
of  Europe.  This  unfortunate  need  it  was  that  lead 
to  the  Crimean  War,  the  Italian  Wars,  the  Invasion  of 
Mexico  during  the  American  Civil  War,  and,  finally, 
to  his  own  defeat  and  overthrow  at  Sedan. 

Though  the  Question  of  the  Shrines  was  a  small 
matter,  there  were  other  circumstances  that  indicated, 
on  the  part  of  the  Ottomans,  a  disposition  to  evade  the 
treaties  made  with  Russia  regarding  the  Christian  sub- 
jects of  their  Empire.  As  the  eminent  historian  of  the 
"  Crimean  War,"  (9  volumes)  is  undoubtedly  a  stand- 
ard authority  on  this  subject,  and  cannot  be  suspected 
of  Russophilism,  I  have  endeavored  in  this  chapter  to 
confine  myself  to  statements  that  are  to  be  found  in 
his  voluminous  .work.  It  is  only  in  the  collation  and 
juxtaposing  of  the  facts,  and  in  my  inferences  and  con- 
clusions, that  I  differ  from  Mr.  Kinglake,  and  I  think 
my  readers  will  agree  with  me,  when  I  shall  have  laid 
before  them  the  facts  and  concomitant  circumstances. 

The  misapprehension,  which  exists  in  the  minds  of 
many  intelligent  people,  regarding  the  causes  of  im- 
portant wars  that  have  taken  place  in  our  own  day,  is 
a  curious  phenomenon.  It  is  generally  supposed,  for 
instance,  that  the  abolition  of  slavery  was  the  deter- 
mining cause  of  the  American  Civil  War,  whereas  it 
was  only  an  incident.  Notions  regarding  the  Crimean 
War  are,  in  general,  even  more  vague  and  inaccurate. 
"  By  what  malign  combination  of  circumstances  was 


184  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

"  Turkey  endowed  with  power  to  work  this  immeas- 
"  urable  evil  ?  How  did  it  come  that  tliis  despicable 
"  Government  was  able  to  make  enlightened  and  pow- 
"  erful  Christian  States  the  ministers  of  its  fanatical 
"  and  barbarous  hatred  ?"  These  are  the  questions  I 
will  endeavor  to  answer  with  all  fairness  and  clearness. 

"  About  this  time,"  says  Kinglake,  "  it  happened 
"  that  there  were  troubles  in  one  of  the  Provinces, 
"  and  Omar  Pacha,  at  the  head  of  a  Turkisli  force, 
"  was  operating  against  the  Christians  of  Montene- 
gro." (P.  75,  vol.  L,  "  Crimean  War.") 

We  will  not  enquire  too  closely  into  the  nature  of 
these  "  troubles,"  too  frequent,  alas,  among  these  un- 
fortunate Christians,  of  whom  the  same  author  says,  in 
the  euphonious  language  of  Turcophilism,  "  they  were 
"  not  safe  from  lawless  acts  of  tyranny,  and  there  were 
"  usages  that  reminded  them  (after  four  a  centuries, 
"  reader,)  that  they  were  a  conquered  people."  Nor 
will  we  examine  the  character  of  these  "  operations," 
of  Omar  Pacha  against  them,  but  we  will  glean  in 
another  field,  more  motives  that  justified  the  Czar 
Nicholas  in  demanding  from  the  Porte  a  confirmation 
of  the  treaties  that  had  conferred  on  Russia  the  Pro- 
tectorate of  the  Christians  in  the  Ottoman  Empire. 
To  enable  my  readers  to  do  this.  I  will  simply  lay  be- 
fore them  a  letter  from  Lord  Raglan,  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  British  forces,  in  the  Crimean  War,  as  it  will 
also  throw  a  side  light  on  the  "  troubles "  and 
the  "  operations  "  above  mentioned.  For  Turkisli 
policy  regarding  Christians  is  always  the  same,  has 
always  been  the  same,  will  always  be  the  same,  as 
long  as  Turks  are  Turks,  and  Christians  are  Christians. 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  185 

Lord  Raglan  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  Secretary  of 
State  for  War. 

YARN  A,  8th  August,  1854,  Bulgaria. 

MY  LORD  DUKE. — The  way  in  which  the  Christian 
"  population  is  treated  by  the  Turks  in  Bulgaria,  has 
"  come  so  prominently  under  the  notice  of  her  Majes- 
"  ty's  officers  since  the  army  has  been  stationed  in  this 
"  neighborhood,  that  I  think  it  my  duty  to  bring  the 
"  subject  under  the  official  notice  of  your  Grace,  and, 
"  with  this  view,  I  lay  before  you  copies  of  three  des- 
"  patches  which  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  send  to 
a  the  Ambassador  ;  the  two  first  containing  represen- 
"  tations  of  atrocities  committed  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
•"  camp,  by  Lieutenant-General  Sir  de  Lacy  Evans, 
"  and  the  last  forwarding  a  letter  from  the  Duke  of 
"  Cambridge,  with  a  detailed  report  of  the  Assistant 
"  Adjutant-General,  Honorable  Alexander  Gordon, 
"  who  was  directed  by  H.  R.  H.  to  ascertain,  with  the 
"  assistance  of  an  interpreter,  how  it  arose  that  the 
"  Bulgarian  peasants  manifest  such  reluctance  to  bring 
•"  supplies  to  our  camps.  The  reason  is  now  obvious. 
"  These  unfortunate  people  dare  not  appear  there. 
"  They  are  liable  to  be  robbed  on  their  return  home, 
"  and  to  be  ill-used  as  soon  as  it  is  known  that  they 
"  are  in  possession  of  money  ;  and  they  are  fortunate 
"  if  they  are  not  carried  off,  and,  if  not  ransomed  at 
"  the  price  demanded,  murdered,  as  the  accompany- 
"  ing  papers  show  to  have  been  the  case  in  more  than 
"  one  instance.  Hence  it  is  that  the  Christian  inhabi- 
"  tants  of  this  Province,  hail  any  change  as  preferable 
"  to  the  yoke  under  which  they  are  now  being  crushed; 


186  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

"  and  it  may  be  relied  on,  that  as  long  as  the  Turks 
"  are  allowed  to  load  themselves  with  arms,  and  the 
"  Bulgarians  are  not  permitted  to  carry  any,  the  exist- 
"  ence  of  the  latter  will  be,  (to  use  the  language  of 
"  Colonel  Gordon,)  little  better  than  that  of  slaves." 

"  The  treatment  of  these  peor  creatures  has  excited 
"  a  most  painful  impression  in  the  army  under  rny 
"  command." 

The  Duke  of  Newcastle,  one  of  the  chief  abettors 
of  the  Crimean  War,  replied  thus  : 

u  I  quite  agree  with  you  that  we  cannot  permit  such 
"  atrocities  to  be  committed  under  the  eyes  of  the 
"  troops  we  have  sent  to  protect  the  perpetrators  from 
"  foreign  aggression,  and  that  we  must  not  merely 
"  resort  to  strenuous  remonstrance,  but  to  something 
"  stronger,  if  necessary." 

Alas,  for  British  cant !  Lord  Raglan,  in  spite  of 
his  better  judgment  as  a  soldier,  and  his  better  feelings 
as  a  Christian,  was  even  then  under  stringent  orders 
of  the  Duke,  Secretary  of  War,  to  invade  the  Crimea 
without  delay. 

If  further  proof  be  needed  to  show  that  there  wrere 
just  grounds  for  Russia's  demand,  I  refer  to  the  in- 
structions given  to  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliife,  when 
he  was  sent  back  to  Constantinople,  after  an  absence 
of  eight  months,  (April,  1853.) 

The  Ambassador  was  directed  "  to  warn  the  Porte 
"  that  the  accumulated  grievances  of  foreign  nations 
"  which  the  Porte  is  unable  or  unwilling  to  redress, 
"  the  maladministration  of  its  own  affairs  *  *  * 
"  may  lead  to  a  general  revolt  among  the  Christian 
"  subjects  of  the  Porte,  *  *  *  that  perse verence 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR,  1ST 

"  in  his  (Sultan's)  present  conduct,  must  end  in  alien- 
"  ating  the  sympathies  of  the  British  nation,  and  make 
u  it  impossible  for  Her  Majesty's  government  to  over- 
"  look  the  exigencies  of  Christendom,  exposed  to  the 
"  natural  consequences  of  their  unwise  policy  and 
"  reckless  maladministration."  (Crimean  War,  p. 
125,  I.) 

In  the  spring  of  1853,  Prince  Menchikoff  was  sent 
to  Constantinople.  Firstly,  to  negotiate  on  the  Ques- 
tion of  the  Shrines,  which  question  was  amicably 
settled  with  Russia's  acquiesence,  France  retaining 
the  key  and  star,  that  were  the  principal  bones  of 
contention.  Secondly,  to  exact  from  the  Porte  a  Note, 
confirming  the  treaties,  that  had  conferred  on  Russia, 
the  Protectorate  of  the  Christians  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire. 

"  Russia,"  says  Kinglake,  "  availed  herself  of  some 
"  loose  words  that  had  crept  into  the  treaty  of  Kai- 
"  nardji,  as  a  ground  for  maintaining  that  a  moral 
"  claim  was  converted  into  a  distinct  right  by  treaty 
"  engagement."  (P.  115,  vol.  I.)  But  these  -4  loose 
wards"  as  he  is  pleased  to  call  them,  were  nailed 
down  at  Ackerman  and  at  Adrianople,  and  implicitly 
contained  in  every  treaty  between  Russia  and  Turkey, 
as  we  have  already  seen  in  a  previous  chapter.  More- 
over, Mr.  Kinglake  himself  informs  us  later  on,  after 
the  Russians  had  evacuated  the  Danubian  Principali- 
ties, that  "  by  the  mere  act  of  declaring  war  against  the 
"Czar,  the  Porte  freed  itself  from  the  obnoxious  treaties, 
"which  heretofore  entangled  its  freedom."  P.  221,  v.  II. 

What  "  obnoxious  treaties  "  if  not  the  very  treaties 
referred  to  ?  And  why  "  obnoxious,"  but  because 


188  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

they  contain  these  very  provisions  of  which  Russia 
demanded  a  continuation,  the  refusal  of  which  had 
caused  her  to  occupy  the  Principalities  ?  If  it  were 
otherwise,  how  could  the  war  declared  by  the  Porte 
on  account  of  this  occupation  have  freed  the  Turks 
from  these  "  obnoxious  treaties  "  ? 

Mr.  Gladstone's  argument  in  justification  of  Russia's 
pretentious  is  unassailable.  In  1774  Russia  had  com- 
pletely defeated  Turkey  in  a  war,  which  the  latter  had 
undertaken  against  her,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Duke 
de  Choiseul.  She  had  conquered  the  Crimea,  Bessa- 
rabia, Wallachia,  Moldavia,  some  of  the  Ionian  Isles, 
part  of  Bulgaria  and  was  at  the  gates  of  Constanti- 
nople, when  the  Sultan  sued  for  peace,  which  was 
concluded  at  Kairnadji.  The  protection  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  was  distinctly  stipulated  for,  in  this  treaty. 
Some  years  later  the  Turks,  unfaithful  to  their  engage- 
ments, were  again  defeated  by  Russia  and  sued  for 
peace,  which  was  concluded  at  Adrianople,  with  the 
same  stipulation  regarding  the  Christians. 

Now,  if  in  these  conditions,  a  State  enters  into  a 
treaty  engagement  with  another  State,  that  it  will  do 
a  certain  thing,  clearly  that  State  has  a  right  of  re- 
clamation, if  the  thing  be  not  done. 

Therefore,  argues  Gladstone,  as  the  Sultan  made  a 
special  treaty  regarding  the  Christians,  he  gave,  in  the 
very  nature  of  things,  a  special  right  to  intervene,  if 
the  promises  were  not  fulfilled. 

Let  us  suppose  for  a  moment,  that  China  had  de- 
clared war  against  England  and  been  completely  de- 
feated, and  that  England  had  consented  to  conclude  a 
Peace,  on  condition  that  the  Chinese  Government 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  189 

should  guarantee  to  all  Christians,  in  the  Celestial 
Empire,  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and  the  en- 
joyment of  all  civil  and  religious  rights. 

Would  England,  I  ask,  be  justified  in  intervening,  if 
they  were  deprived  of  these  rights  ?  Would  she  be 
entitled  to  "  protect "  them  in  fact  ? 

Russophobists  seem  to  be  somewhat  like  monoma- 
niacs, who  are  perfectly  sane  and  rational  on  every 
point,  except  one.  Clear  sighted,  consistent,  and  impar- 
tial, in  general,  their  minds  seem  to  become  suddenly 
warped,  as  soon  as  they  are  focused  on  Russia. 

Nothing  short  of  Russophobia,  I  am  sure,  could 
trouble  Mr.  Kinglake's  serene  judgment,  and  even  be- 
tray him  into  paradoxes.  After  having  described,  in 
his  own  masterly  way,  the  various  agencies  that  worked 
together  to  bring  about  the  Crimean  War,  he  sums  up 
thus  :  "  Nicholas  was  not  single  minded,  and  there- 
"  fore  his  will  was  unstable,  and  since  he  was  armed 
"  with  the  whole  authority  of  his  Empire,  it  seemed 
"  plain  that  it  was  this  man  and  only  he,  who  was  bring- 
« ing  danger  from  the  North,"  (Ch.  XI,  Yol.  II).  This 
is  hardly  a  fair  conclusion.  Moreover,  if  Nicholas 
was  anything,  he  was  single  minded  and  tirm,  even  to 
obstinacy.  He  might  well  be  accused  of  being  quixot- 
ically conservative  in  his  views,  of  being  blindly,  fan- 
atically devoted  to  the  interests  of  his  Church  and  his 
co-religionists,  but  it  must  also  be  admitted,  that  from 
his  frankly  avowed  policy  on  these  points,  he  never 
swerved.  How  then  can  it  be  said  that  he  was  "  not 
single  minded,  and  that  his  will  was  unstable  ?" 

Elsewhere  Mr.  Kinglake  says  :  "  Erom  head  to  foot 
"  a  vast  empire  was  made  to  throb  with  the  passions 


190  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

which  rent  the  bosom  of  the  one  man,  Nicholas," 
vol.  II.)  But  the  historian  soon  finds  that  "  in  the 
"  Tzar  a  vast  people  was  incarnate,  his  ambition,  his 
•"  piety,  his  anger  were  in  a  sense  the  passions  of  the 
"devoted  millions  of  whom  he  was  indeed  the  true 
"chief,"  (p.  127  vol.  II.),  they  were  no  doubt  "  made 
to  throb,"  much  in  the  same  way  as  "  means  for  trans- 
"  porting  the  army  were  wrung  from  the  hapless 
•"  peasants,"  as  he  informs  us  elsewhere ! 

Mr.  Kinglake  also  accuses  the  Tzar  Nicholas  of 
•"  yielding  to  an  instinct  of  wild  cunning,"  because 
when  he  expressed  himself  satisfied  with  the  settlement 
of  the  "  Question  of  the  Shrines,"  he  did  riot  see  fit 
to  take  the  world  into  his  confidence,  regarding  his 
intention  of  exacting  a  new,  and  formal  recognition  of 
his  right  of  Protectorate  over  the  Christian  subjects  of 
the  Porte. 

Where  the  instinct  of  wild  cunning  comes  into 
play,  I  fail  to  see,  for,  as  Mr.  Kinglake  says  "  Nicholas 
"  must  have  known  that  the  matter  would  be  made 
"  public  before  three  weeks."  Is  it  an  inexorable  law 
that  diplomats  shall  lay  bare  in  advance,  their  unma- 
tured  projects,  under  pain  of  having  "  their  reputation 
"  for  honor  and  good  faith,  suddenly  and  forever  de- 
"  stroyed  ? "  (p.  109,  vol.  I.) 

The  fact  is  that  Mr.  Kinglake,  like  many  others,  is 
convinced  that  the  Crimean  War  was  altogether  unjus- 
tifiable, and  he  takes  every  opportunity  of  slurring  the 
Tzar  Nicholas,  by  way  of  removing  some  of  the  blame 
from  his  own  countrymen.  "  What  Nicholas  seems  to 
"  have  been  in  1853,  says  the  historian,  was  a  firm,  right- 
"  eous  man,  too  brave  and  too  proud  to  be  capable  of  de- 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  191 

"  scending  to  falseliood  "  (p.  68,  vol.  I.)  But  by  some 
imperceptible  decline,  the  Czar  seems  to  have  abdi- 
cated his  high  qualities  and  descended  to  the  level  of  a 
wild  Tzigane,  (Slav  Gypsy)  and  even  lower  still. 
How,  when,  and  where,  the  evil  descent  was  made,  does 
not  clearly  appear,  in  spite  of  Mr.  Kinglake's  pellucid 
style.  None  of  the  Czar's  words,  or  actions  are  incon- 
sistent with  his  high  moral  standing  in  Europe,  or  un- 
worthy of  a  great  ruler.  With  the  tossings  of  his 
spirit  and  the  upheavings  of  his  passions,  of  which, 
Mr.  Kinglake  seems  to  have  had  such  a  vivid  intui- 
tion, we  have  nothing  to  do ;  they  are  not  of  the  do- 
main of  history,  and  moreover,  blackening  others  will 
never  whiten  ourselves, 

With  far  greater  appearance  of  justice,  might  the 
English  Government  be  accused  of  having  acted  with 
ensnaring  duplicity,  towards  the  Czar.  Not  only  did 
the  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Aberdeen,  assure  the  world, 
that  "  except  for  a  weighty  and  solemn  cause,  no  war 
would  be  undertaken,"  but  when  the  Secretary  of 
State,  Lord  Clarendon,  intimated  to  the  Russian  Am- 
bassador that  England  would  resent  the  occupation  of 
the  Danubian  Principalities,  the  Premier  insisted  on 
having  these  words  retracted,  officially.  Could  any- 
thing be  more  misleading  ? 

It  is  not,  however,  with  the  personal  opinions  of  the 
eminent  historian  that  we  have  to  do,  but  with  the 
unanimous  judgment  of  Europe.  When  the  Powers 
framed  the  document,  known  as  the  "  Vienna  Note," 
and  urged  its  acceptance  on  the  Porte,  they  practically 
acknowledged  the  justice  of  the  Czar's  demand,  and 
signed  their  own  condemnation  in  the  war  that  ensued. 


192  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

For  this  Note  was  substantially  the  same,  as  the  one 
proposed  by  Prince  Menchikoff,  which  was  made  a 
casus  belli. 

Nicholas  readily  accepted  the  arbitration  of  the 
Powers,  and  the  affair  seemed  settled,  for  the  all- 
powerful  English  Ambassador  had  received  instruc- 
tions to  bring  his  whole  influence  to  bear  upon  the 
Turks,  and  to  impress  them  with  "  the  strong  and 
"  earnest  manner  in  which  the  Vienna  Note  was 
"  recommended  to  the  acceptance  of  the  Porte,  not 
"  only  by  her  Majesty's  Government,  but  also  by  the 
"  Cabinets  of  Austria,  France  and  Prussia."  (P.  37^, 
Yol.  I.)  But  the  Powers  reckoned  without  their  host. 
Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe  was  bitterly  opposed  to 
the  Vienna  Note,  which  did  not  tally  with  his  own 
little  policy  in  regard  to  Turkish  government,  which 
he  was,  virtually,  administering.  The  opportunity  now- 
afforded  for  exercising  his  diplomating  prowess,  and 
indulging  his  love  of  power  was  too  tempting  to  be 
thrown  away.  Had  he  not,  moreover,  a  little  account 
to  square  with  the  Czar  Nicholas,  who  had  refused  to 
receive  him  as  England's  representative  at  St.  Peters- 
burg. 

Lord  Stratford  read  his  instructions  to  the  Ott.oman 
Cabinet  with  most  perfunctory  obedience,  his  whole 
demeanor  the  while  urging  them  to  reject  the  "  Vienna 
Note."  And  it  was  to  his  unspoken  orders  only,  that 
they  gave  heed.  For  his  ascendency  was  great,  and 
he  had  informed  them  lately,  with  much  circumstance, 
and  in  his  most  impressive  manner,  that  the  British 
fleet  in  Besica  Bay  was  at  his  command.  This  was 
enough  for  these  Moslems,  who  crouch  and  cringe  be- 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAK.  193 

fore  force  of  any  kind,  but  become  singularly  bold 
and  daring,  as  soon  as  they  iind  themselves  sustained 
by  any  one,  who  has  the  moral  stamina,  in  which  they 
are  so  lacking,  when  left  to  themselves.  But  for  En- 
glish leadership  they  would  have  fled  from  many  a 
battlefield  ;  and,  but  for  Lord  Stratford  de  Redclrffe, 
the  cause  of  peace  might  have  triumphed  at  this  hour. 

Not  only  did  the  English  Ambassador  succeed  in 
bringing  the  courage  and  firmness  of  the  Turks  to 
concert  pitch,  but  also  "  in  presenting  them  to  Europe 
"in  an  attitude  of  Christian  forbearance,  sustained  by 
"unfailing  courage,  so  that  in  proportion  as  men  loved 
"justice  and  were  led  by  the  gentle  precepts  of  the 
"Gospel,  they  inclined  to  the  Prince  who  seemed  to 
"represent  these  principles."  (P.  183,  Vol.  I.)  What 
a  bitter  irony  these  words  appear,  when  read  side  by 
side  with  Lord  Raglan's  letter,  quoted  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  chapter.  Worst  of  all,  the  Ambassador  in- 
veigled England  into  a  sort  of  defensive  alliance  with 
Turkey,  by  obtaining  separate  sanctions  to  a  series  of 
artfully  moderate  and  judicious  despatches. 

On  the  20th  August,  1853,  much  to  the  surprise  of 
Europe,  the  Porte  declared  its  refusal  to  accept  the 
Vienna  Note,  without  making  certain  alterations, 
which  the  Czar,  of  course,  refused  to  admit. 

The  alterations  were  these  : 

"  Vienna  Note"  "  The  government  of  his  Majesty, 
the  Sultan,  will  remain  faithful  to  the  letter  and  to 
the  spirit  of  the  Treaties  of  the  Kainardji  and  Adri- 
anople,  regarding  the  protection  of  the  Christian 
Church." 

"  Corrections  made  ~by  the  Porte"  "  The  government 
13 


194  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

of  his  Majesty,  the  Sultan,  will  remain  faithful  to  the 
stipulations  of  the  Treaty  of  Kainardji,  confirmed  by 
that  of  Adrianople,  regarding  the  protection,  fry  the 
JSublime  Porte,  of  the  Christian  religion." 

The  treaties,  as  we  have  seen,  placed  the  Christians 
under  the  protection  of  the  Czar  of  all  the  Russias, 
the  natural  head  of  the  Greco-Russo  Church  since  the 
fall  of  Constantinople  1453.  And,  by  the  altered 
form,  the  Christians  of  the  Ottomon  Empire  were 
placed  under  the  protection  of  the  Turks.  In  other 
•words,  the  wolf  solemnly  engaged  to  protect  the  lambs 
for  himself,  and  the  world  knows  full  well  what  this 
kind  of  protection  means,  even  without  the  practical 
demonstrations,  furnished  by  the  Turks  themselves, 
over  and  over  again. 

Russia,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  refused  to  accept 
these  alterations,  and  she  continued  to  occupy  the 
Danubian  Principalities,  as  a  "material  guarantee," 
though  she  declared,  at  the  same  time,  her  unwilling- 
ness to  go  to  war,  if  there  were  any  other  means  of 
bringing  the  Turks  to  accede  to  her  demand.  More- 
over, this  occupation  of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  could 
not  be  considered  an  invasion  of  the  Ottoman  territory, 
nor  a  casus  'belli,  per  se,  for  these  provinces  were 
autonomous  under  Russian  protection  since  the  Treaty 
of  Bucharest,  and,  according  to  this  treaty,  the  Turks 
had  no  right  to  send  troops  into  these  provinces. 

In  September,  1853,  some  thirty  Mudiris  (Moslem 
theological  students)  presented  a  petition  to  the  Sul- 
tan, urging  him  to  declare  war  against  Russia,  and  the 
Ottoman  Ministers  used  the  circumstance,  with  crafty 
skill,  to  persuade  the  French  Ambassador,  de  la  Cour, 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  195 

that  his  countrymen  and  co-religionists  were  in  immi- 
nent danger  from  Moslem  riots.  While,  to  Lord  Strat- 
ford, they  loudly  bewailed  over  the  threatened  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  The  English  Ambassador 
was  not  very  much  alarmed ;  it  is  even  probable  that 
the  "  serious  and  impressive  terms,"  in  which  he  said 
the  petition  was  couched,  were  of  his  own  suggestion, 
and  that  he  was  the  "  deus  ex  inachina  "  of  the  whole 
mise  en  scene.  • 

Before  the  rejection  of  the  "  Vienna  Note,"  and 
while  the  Powers  were  still  deliberating  in  concert, 
Louis  Napoleon  had  craftily  succeeded  in  drawing 
England  into  a  special  alliance  with  France  ;  and,  now, 
on  receipt  of  some  incoherent,  hysterical  despatch 
from  his  Ambassador,  the  French  Emperor  insisted 
with  the  English  .Cabinet,  that  it  was  "  indispensably 
necessary  "  that  their  combined  fleets  should,  in  viola- 
tion of  the  Convention  of  1841,  enter  the  Straits  be- 
fore there  had  been  a  declaration  of  war  on  any  side. 
"  Aussitot pris,  aussitbtpendu"  That  very  day,  with- 
out any  information  from  the  English  Ambassador,  Lord 
.Clarendon  telegraphed  to  Lord  Stratford  :  "  Your  Ex- 
cellency is  instructed  to  send  for  the  British  fleet  to 
Constantinople." 

Could  anything  be  more  ridiculous,  more  un-Eng- 
lish than  this  undignified  precipitation  ?  A  handful 
of  Moslems,  under  the  guidance  of  a  strong,  self- 
willed,  ambitious  Saxon,  scare  the  French  Ambassador, 
who  tries  to  scare  his  master,  who  is  not  scared,  but 
avails  himself  of  the  scare,  to  fool  the  English  Cabi- 
net into  a  most  undiplomatic  and  unworthy  breach  of 
treaty.  Certainly,  of  all  the  follies  induced  by  Rus- 


196  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

sophobia,  "  this  bears  the  palm."  The  English  were 
fast  "  drifting  "  into  what  Count  Nesselrode  declared 
would  be,  on  their  part,  "  the  most  unjustifiable  and 
"  the  most  unintelligible  of  wars." 

If  the  Allies  had  only  waited  twenty-four  hours, 
they  might  at  least  have  spared  themselves  the  damna- 
tion of  driving  through  an  international  treaty,  with- 
out the  shadow  of  a  pretext ;  for,  on  the  23d  October, 
1853,  the  fifteen  days  expired,  that  had  been  al- 
lowed by  the  Sultan's  ultimatum  for  the  evacuation  of 
the  Principalities,  and  hostilities  had  begun  between 
Russia  and  Turkey. 

The  Ottomans  attacked  Russia  at  Fort  St.  Nicholas, 
on  the  Black  Sea,  in  Armenia,  and  on  the  Danube. 
On  the  30th  November  the  Russian  fleet  sallied  forth 
from  Sebastopol,  and  destroyed  the  Turkish  fleet  at 
Sinope,  on  the  north  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  under  the 
very  eyes,  so  to  say,  of  the  Allies,  who  had  been  in 
guch  a  hurry  to  enter  the  Straits,  without  knowing 
exactly  what  they  meant  to  do  next. 

Total  lack  of  information  of  current  events  in  the 
East,  or  garbled  versions  of  them,  betrayed  the  Eng- 
lish people  into  a  firm  belief,  that  the  Russians  had 
been  guilty  at  Sinope,  of  a  dastardly  act  of  treachery 
and  surprise.  Kinglake,  however,  who  cannot  over- 
come his  native  love  of  truth,  frankly  and  completely 
exonerates  the  Russians  from  any  such  charge. 

Even  Mr.  Justin  McCarthy  admits  that  "  the 
*'  attack  was  not  treacherous,  but  openly  made ; 
"  not  sudden,  but  clearly  announced  by  previous 
"  acts,  and  long  expected  by  the  Turkish  commander 
"himself;  and  it  was  not  in  breach  even  of  the 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  197 

"  courtesies  of  war."    p.  469.     "A  history  of  our  own 
times." 

Yet  this  so-called  "Massacre  of  Sinope"  raised  a 
clamor  against  the  Czar  Nicholas,  as  if  he  were  "a 
"  monster  outside  the  pale  of  civilized  law,  like  some 
"  of  the  furious  and  treacherous  despots  of  Mediaeval 
"  Asiatic  history."  It,  was  subsequently  referred  to  in 
the  declaration  of  war,  that  was  alleged  to  have  been 
undertaken  to  save  Europe  from  the  "preponderance 
"  of  a  power  that  had  defied  the  opinion  of  the  civilized 
«  world:9 

British  passions  were  now  stirred,  and  the  govern- 
ment added  fuel  to  the  flame,  by  revealing,  at  this 
critical  moment,  the  strictly  confidential  and  personal 
communications,  that  had  passed  in  1852,  between 
Nicholas  and  the  English  Prime  Minister,  regarding 
the  disposal  of  the  "sick  man's"  heritage,  in  case  of  a 
casualty  ;  communications  which,  to  use  the  Czar's  ex- 
pression, were  to  be  considered  entirely  "between 
"  gentlemen  ;"  and  were,  after  all,  of  the  same  nature 
as  those  made  in  1844,  during  Nicholas'  visit  to  Queen 
Yictoria,  when  the  understanding  between  the  two 
nations  seemed  to  be  perfect. 

Fired  with  admiration  for  the  high  qualities  evinced 
by  the  "gentleman  Turk,"  so  well  schooled  by  Lord 
Stratford,  and  enthusiastic  over  the  skillful  manoeu- 
vering  of  Omar  Pacha,  on  the  Danube,  the  English 
burned  to  avenge  an  imaginary  wrong,  and  as  the 
true  culprit  was  not  manifest,  their  vengeance 
must  needs  be  wreaked  on  the  devoted  head  of  the 
Czar  Nicholas. 

Moreover,  it  must  be  remembered  that  since  thirty- 


198  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

eight  years  Europe  had  been  at  peace.  The  English 
had  "beaten  their  swords  into  plough-shares,  and  their 
spears  into  pruning-hooks,"  and  were  reposing  on 
laurels  won  from  the  past.  The  "Peace  Party,"  with 
Cobden  and  Bright  in  the  van,  had  preached  their 
wise  philosophy  to  the  verge  of  folly,  to  the  reductio 
ad  absurdum — and  according  to  natural  laws,  the 
public  mind  wras  all  prepared  to  fly  oft'  in  a  tangent, 
when  the  tempter  again  drew  near,  with  his  insidious 
counsels — behests  rather. 

"To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  a  disaster  like  that  of 
Sinope,"  said  Louis  Napoleon,  "the  allied  fleets  must 
take  possession  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  the  Russian  fleet 
must  be  pent  up  in  the  harbor  of  Sebastapol,  like  the 
malefactor  that  it  was." 

Arid  again,  the  English  Government  fell  into  the 
snare  ;  again,  they  obeyed  the  behests  of  the  parvenu 
French  Emperor.  (January,  1854.) 

As  late  as  August  26th,  1853,  Lord  Clarendon,  al- 
luding to  the  Vienna  Note,  had  expressed  himself 
thus  :  "We  are  bound  to  make  the  Turks  agree  to 
"  the  terms  we  have  prescribed,  or  let  them  take  their 
"  course."  And  even  at  the  end  of  December,  1853, 
negotiations  for  the  "Vienna  Note"  were  still  pending. 
But  now,  after  destroying  the  last  hope  of  a  peaceable 
settlement  between  Turkey  and  Russia,  it  occurred  to 
Louis  Napoleon  that  by  appeasing  the  tempest  he  had 
himself  raised,  he  might  place  himself  on  a  pedestal, 
quite  as  effectually,  as  by  an  offensive  alliance  with 
England.  And  provided  he  succeeded  in  making  him- 
self conspicuous,  the  means  were  of  small  account  with 
him. 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  199" 

Accordingly,  he  wrote  a  well  penned,  patronizing- 
sort  of  letter,  proffering  services  and  counsel  to  the 
proud  Czar,  who  had  refused  even  to  address  him  as  a 
"  brother  sovereign." 

Both  counsels  and  services  were  scornfully  rejected,, 
with  an  intimation,  that  if  Russia  were  compelled  to 
fight,  she  could,  probably,  hold  her  own  in  1854,  as  in 
1812. 

This  allusion  to  the  disastrous  retreat  of  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  from  Moscow  was  too  much  for  the  plebian 
French  Emperor,  who  now  had  a  new  incentive  for 
dragging  England  into  an  aggressive  war  with  Russia. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  1854,  France  and  England 
declared  war  against  the  Czar,  and  began  transporting 
their  armies  to  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  to  obtain  the 
redress  of  a  grievance,  which  regarded  no  one  but 
Turkey,  and  perhaps  Austria,  who  might,  as  a  neigh- 
bor, object  to  the  occupation  of  the  Principalities  by 
Russia. 

By  this  occupation,  which  began  several  months 
before  the  Ottoman  declaration  of  war,  (Oct.  1853,) 
the  Russians  had  placed  themselves  at  a  great  dis- 
advantage. For  the  Danube,  which  was  to  them  a  self 
imposed  barrier,  between  their  army  and  the  Ottoman 
territory,  was  no  barrier  for  unscrupulous  Turks,  who, 
by  treaty,  were  debarred  from  sending  troops  into  the 
Principalities.  While  therefore,  the  Russian  army  was. 
becoming  demoralized,  by  a  prolonged  and  anomalous- 
state  of  inaction,  Omar  Pacha  was,  warily  and  skilfully ,. 
taking  up  strong  positions  on  either  side  of  the  Danube, 
and  hemming  them  in. 

In  July,  1854,  the  Russians  were  forced  to  raise  the 


200  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

siege  of  Silistria.  They  were  also  defeated  at  Griurgevo, 
and  retreated  from  Maldavia  and  Wallachia.  And,  as 
the  occupation  of  these  Principalities  had  been  made 
the  casus  belli  of  the  hostile  declarations  of  France  and 
England,  as  well  as  of  Turkey,  the  allies  now  found 
themselves,  suddenly,  and  unexpectedly,  sans  coup 
ferir,  in  the  position  of  champions  without  a  cause. 

Already  in  March,  (1854,)  when  the  English  Gov- 
ernment had  resolved  to  go  to  war  with  Russia,  it  was 
necessary  that  the  Royal  Speech  should  announce  the 
fact  to  Parliament.  But  the  "  Queen's  advocate 
"  declared  that  upon  the  papers  supplied  to  him,  he 
"  could  not  frame  a  proper  declaration  of  war,"  (P. 
120,  Yol.  II,  Crimean  War.)  However,  as  Ivinglake 
remarks,  "  a  war  could  not  be  stayed  for  mere  want  of 
"  words."  The  Queen  was  advised  to  say  "  that  she 
"  felt  compelled  to  take  up  arms  for  the  defence  of 
"the  Sultan,  and  the  independence  and  integrity  of 
u  his  Empire,  for  the  cause  of  right  against  injustice, 
"  to  save  Europe  from  the  preponderance  of  a  Power 
"  who  had  violated  the  faith  of  treaties,  and  defied 
"  the  opinion  of  the  civilized  world." 

After  the  evacuation  of  the  Principalities,  the  argu- 
ment for  an  aggressive  war  became  still  more  untena- 
ble than  before.  The  Empire,  whose  "  integrity  and 
independence  "  were  said  to  be  threatened,  had  abund- 
antly shown,  that  it  was  quite  able  to  light  its  own 
battles.  The  power,  unjustly  accused  of  violating 
treaties,  was  not  exactly  preponderating,  having  been 
twice  defeated  and  forced  to  retreat ;  and,  in  fact,  it 
was  clear,  that  the  Sultan  really  needed  no  defending 
at  all,  for  the  present,  at  least. 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  201 

But,  when  the  deadly  shaft  has  left  the  quiver,  and 
is  winging  its  way  through  space,  it  cannot  easily  be 
recalled.  Mr.  Cobden  came  to  the  prudent  conclusion, 
that  when  war  is  once  in  the  air,  the  Peace  Party 
might  just  as  well  suspend  operations,  pro  tern.;  for, 
at  such  times,  the  "  people  are  no  better  than  mad 
•dogs." 

On  the  29 th  of  June,  1854,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle, 
Secretary  of  State  for  war,  proposed  to  the  Cabinet, 
that  the  Allies  should  invade  the  Crimea  and  demolish 
Sebastopol,  in  order  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure, 
and  provide  against  any  future  misuse  of  her  power 
by  Kussia ;  leaving  it,  however,  to  the  discretion  of 
Lord  Raglan,  to  determine  on  the  ad  visibility,  of  such 
an  undertaking.  But  this  important  condition  was 
omitted  by  the  Duke  in  his  Despatch  to  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief,  which,  on  the  contrary,  was  couched 
in  terms,  so  preremptory,  that  it  left  Lord  Raglan  no 
alternative,  but  to  obey  implicitly,  and  without  delay. 

Some  days  later,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  read  his 
Despatch  to  the  assembled  Cabinet  for  their  final 
approval,  and,  it  is  a  matter  of  history,  that  they  all 
slumbered  and  slept,  more  or  less  profoundly,  during 
the  entire  reading.  "  A  falling  chair,  says  Kinglake, 
"  at  one  moment  interrupted  the  repose  of  the  Gov- 
•"  eminent,"  which  was,  however,  resumed  with  the 
reading  of  the  Despatch,  and,  at  the  close  of  the  same, 
all  these  fifteen  wise,  judicious,  upright  Fathers  of  the 
Nation,  gave  a  somnolent  assentment  to  a  deadly  docu- 
ment, to  which  they  would  certainly  not  have  given 
an  unqualified  approval,  in  their  more  wakeful 
moments. 


202  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Which,  it  may  be  inquired  here,  is  more  fatal  to  the 
peace  of  nations,  the  power  of  an  autocrat,  who  can 
ring  a  bell  and  give  the  order  to  declare  war,  or  a 
dozing  cabinet,  consenting,  unreservedly,  to  a  most 
unjustifiable  invasion  of  a  neighboring  Kingdom  ? 

"  It  would  indeed  have  been  better,"  writes  Justin 
McCarthy,  "  if  the  most  wearied  statesman  had  con- 
"  trived  to  pay  a  full  attention  to  it,  (the  Despatch,) 
"  but  the  want  of  such  respect  in  no  wise  affected  the 
"  policy  of  the  country.  It  is  a  pity  to  have  to  spoil 
"  so  amusing  a  story  as  Mr.  Kinglake's ;  but  the  com- 
"  mon-place  truth  has  to  be  told  that  the  invasion  of 
"  the  Crimea  was  not  due  to  the  crotchet  of  one 
"  minister  and  the  drowsiness  of  all  the  rest."  Never- 
theless, Mr.  McCarthy  does  not  deny  the  fact,  that  in 
the  despatch  to  which  the  slumbering  Cabinet  assented, 
the  important  provision  was  omitted,  that  left  the  in- 
vasion to  the  discretion  of  Lord  Raglan.  He  admits 
that  neither  the  French  nor  the  English  commander- 
in-chief  approved  of  it,  and  that  the  invasion  of  the 
Crimea  was  undertaken  by  Lord  Raglan  only  out  "  of 
"  deference  to  his  Government,  and  because  he  did 
"  not  see  his  way  to  decline  the  responsibility  of  it." 
(Vol.  I,  pp.  487  and  488,  "  A  history  of  our  own 
times.")  It  would  have  been  better,  far,  if  even  at  this 
hour  the  Allies  had  given  heed  to  Lord  Raglan's 
pathetic  appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Bulgarian  Christians, 
and  devoted  themselves  to  the  task  of  redressing  the 
wrongs  of  these  unfortunate  Christians,  instead  of 
attacking  their  secular  champions.  Millions  of  lives 
would  have  been  spared,  and  the  hideous  massacres  of 
Crete  and  Bulgaria  might,  perhaps,  have  been  averted .. 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  203 

But  no,  it  was,  "  Cry  havoc,  and  let  slip  the  dogs  of 
war." 

During  all  this  time,  Gladstone  was  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  and  continued  to  hold  office,  though 
he  was  an  earnest  lover  of  peace  and  justice.  Like 
Saul  of  old,  he  "  was  consenting  unto  the  death  of 
Stephen,"  by  holding  the  clothes  of  those  who  stoned 
the  martyrs ;  and,  like  the  Apostle,  too,  he  will  feel 
bitter  remorse  in  1876  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  an 
evil  work. 

Had  England  so  soon  forgotten,  that  in  1805,  when 
Austria  and  Prussia  were  prostrate  at  the  feet  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  it  was  alliance  with  Russia  that 
saved  her  coasts  from  invasion?  That  it  was  Russia's 
heroic  resistance  in  1812,  which,  in  destroying  the 
Grand  Army,  broke  the  backbone  of  the  Colossus,  and 
prepared  an  easy  triumph  for  England,  two  years  later,, 
at  Waterloo  ? 

Russia  and  Austria  strongly  disapproved  of  the  in- 
vasion of  the  Crimea,  but  still  they  would  not  make- 
any  alliance  with  Russia.  Grateful  young  Greece 
was  intimidated  into  neutrality,  when,  in  her  little  way,, 
she  would  gladly  have  helped  her  powerful  champion 
of  1827.  And  thus,  Russia  stood  alone,  to  resist  the- 
aggression  of  the  combined  armies  and  fleets  of  Eng- 
land, France,  Sardinia  and  Turkey. 

The  conduct  of  the  English,  on  whose  friendly 
neutrality,  at  least,  Nicholas  had  been  led  to  rely,  and 
the  defeat  of  his  troops  on  the  Danube,  were  severe 
trials  for  Nicholas ;  but  "  the  most  unkindest  cut  of 
all,"  was  the  defection  of  the  young  Emperor  of  Aus- 
tria, whose  throne  he  had  saved  in  1848,  and  whom 


204  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

lie   loved  as   a   son.      "  Then  might y    Caesar's  spirit 
broke." 

When  he  learned  that  Franz  Joseph,  too,  had  gone 
against  him,  it  is  said  that  the  Czar,  after  ordering  a 
statue  of  the  Emperor,  that  always  accompanied  him, 
to  be  removed  from  his  presence,  bent  his  head,  covered 
his  face  with  his  hands  and  was  wrung  with  grief. 
"  Ambition  should  be  made  of  sterner  stuff." 

It  was  but  the  first  throe  of  the  long  agony,  that  was 
only  to  end  in  the  Czar's  death,  to  which  allusion  has 
been  made  elsewhere. 

About  the  same  time  that  the  Duke  of  Newcastle's 
despatch  reached  the  Camp  of  the  Allies  at  Varna, 
(Bulgaria,)  the  French  commander-in-chief  received 
from  his  government  a  telegram  in  cipher,  the  full 
purport  of  which  could  not  be  gathered. 

It  seemed,  however,  to  be  in  the  same  sense  as  the 
despatch  received  by  Lord  Raglan.  And  thus,  on  the 
authority  of  an  obscure  telegram,  and  by  the  consent 
of  a  somnolent  cabinet,  to  a  despatch  they  had  not 
listened  to,  the  British  commander-in-chief  was  com- 
pelled to  perpetrate  a  most  unjustifiable  invasion,  as 
repugnant  to  his  conscience  as  a  Christian,  as  it  was 
contrary  to  his  military  prudence. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  war,  Nicholas  solemnly 
declared  to  the  Powers  of  Europe,  "  that  the  sole  aim 
"  of  his  endeavors  was  to  assure  the  rights  of  his  co- 
"  religionists,  and  to  protect  them  from  every  form  of 
"  oppression." 

"  A  stranger  to  selfish  designs,  he  had  no  thought 
"  that  his  righteous  demands  would  lead  to  the  horrors 
"  of  war."  (Manifesto  of  Alexander  II.) 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR,  205 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  trace  the  events  of  this  short 
and  bloody  struggle,  which  are  still  fresh  in  the 
memory  of  many,  to  whose  hearths  it  brought  death 
and  desolation,  though  the.  causes  that  led  to  it  are  not 
equally  well  known  to  the  general  public.  It  is 
vaguely  believed  that  the  Russians  had  been  guilty  of 
something  very  wicked  at  Sinope  ;  that  they  had  vio- 
lated some  treaties,  and  were  bull-dozing  the  helpless, 
inoffensive  Turks.  A  minute  and  most  graphic  ac- 
count of  these  terrible  campaigns,  is  to  be  found  in 
Kinglake's  Work. 

As  England  had  drifted  into  this  war  under  the 
leadership  of  Louis  Napoleon,  so  she  now  allowed  her- 
self to  be  towed  into  peace  by  him. 

The  French  Emperor  had  theatrical  instincts  ;  he 
delighted  in  dramatic  effects,  and  arranged  that  the 
curtain  should  fall,  just  when  his  troops  had  achieved 
a  brilliant  success,  and  the  English  had  been  repulsed 
from  the  Redan.  At  the  very  time  when  her 
army  was  recovering  from  reverses  and  losses  inflicted 
by  improvident  mal  administration,  and  was  prepared 
to  carry  everything  before  it,  England  was  forced  to 
accept  peace,  for  which  France  was  even  more  anxious 
than  Russia  herself.  Napoleon  the  Third  had 
achieved  what  the  First  Napoleon  would  have  given 
his  right  hand  to  have  accomplished. 

Not  only  had  he  succeeded  in  making  himself  re- 
ceived into  the  society  of  European  Sovereigns,  but  he 
had  made  England  his  tool,  as  well  as  his  ally.  The 
honors  of  victory  he  claimed  for  his  own,  the  discredit, 
the  losses,  the  animosity  of  the  conquered,  he  appor- 
tioned to  his  ally. 


206  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

In  1856  the  Treaty  of  Paris  put  an  end  to  this  dis- 
graceful and  bootless  war.  The  work  of  two  centuries 
was  undone  for  Russia.  She  lost  the  Black  Sea  and 
the  protectorate  of  the  Christians  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  that  she  had  wrung  from  the  Porte  by  a  suc- 
cession of  victorious  campaigns.  Instead  of  a  power- 
ful champion  whom  they  lost,  these  poor  Christians 
were  endowed  with  a  "Firman,"  or  "hati-hurnayoum," 
by  which  the  Sultan  renewed  all  his  lying  engage- 
ments. And,  lest  any  of  the  signatory  Powers  should, 
in  the  future,  feel  entitled  to  hold  him  to  them,  it  was 
distinctly  specified  that  no  right  of  interference  was 
given  to  any  of  the  Powers  by  this  concession,  which 
was  said  to  "emanate  spontaneously,  from  his  sovereign 
will."  The  most  important  clause  of  this  treaty  was 
the  "Black  Sea  clause,"  by  which  Russia  was  deprived 
of  the  right  to  have  any  navy  in  these  waters,  or  forts 
or  arsenals  on  her  southern  coast. 

The  Treaty  of  Paris,  which  seemed  for  a  moment  to 
have  sounded  the  knell  of  Russia's  existence  as  a  n'rst- 
rate  power,  was,  in  reality,  only  so  much  waste  paper. 
Before  the  ink  was  well  dried,  she  was  already  pre- 
paring to  arise  out  of  her  ashes,  younger,  stronger  and 
greater  than  before. 

In  1870,  during  the  Prussian  war,  Russia  perempto- 
rily demanded  the  abrogation  of  this  most  obnoxious 
.clause,  which  excluded  her  navy  from  the  Black  Sea. 
Lord  Granville  remonstrated  on  principles  of  high 
morality.  But,  considering  that  most  of  the  other 
stipulations  made  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris  had  been  cast 
to  the  winds,  and  in  view  of  the  seizure  of  the  Papal 
States  by  Victor  Emmamel,  and  of  the  French  Prov- 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  207 

inces  by  Prussia,  it  could  hardly  be  expected  that 
Russia  would  be  so  quixotic,  as  not  to  avail  herself  of 
the  present  opportunity  to  shake  off  a  restriction,  most 
obnoxious  to  herself,  and  about  which  the  other 
Powers  of  Europe  cared  not  one  straw.  Prince 
Bismarck  devised  a  means  for  making  of  necessity  a 
virtue.  At  his  suggestion,  a  conference  was  held  in 
London,  January,  1871,  which  gravely  went  through 
the  farce  of  considering  Russia's  demand,  and  acceding 
to  it,  spontaneously  ! 

All  reverence  is  due  to  the  heroes  of  the  Light 
Brigade  and  millions  of  others,  who,  at  the  voice  of 
duty,  allowed  themselves  to  be  slaughtered  for  an 
unholy  cause,  and  perished  by  thousands,  of  hunger, 
and  cold,  and  disease,  on  the  bleak  shores  of  the 
Crimea.  Nevertheless,  when  time  shall  have  laid  the 
dust  of  glory,  raised  by  crumbling  fortresses  and 
bombarded  cities,  on  the  bloody  days  of  Inkerman, 
Alma,  and  Sebastopol,  humanity  will  judge  more 
sanely  of  the  brutal  facts  of  the  Crimean  war.  Future 
generations  will  stand  aghast,  at  the  hideous  spectacle 
of  three  civilized  nations,  fighting,  side  by  side,  with, 
and  for  semi-barbarous  Moslems,  to  crush  the  noble 
champions  of  their  fellow  Christians  and  fellow 
Slavs,  compelled  to  languish,  since  more  than  four 
.centuries,  beneath  the  yoke  of  these  savage  aliens. 
Posterity  will  cry  shame  to  the  victors,  and  glory  to 
the  vanquished,  who  so  bravely  defended  their  coasts 
against  fourfold  odds. 

Nay,  we  may  say  that  the  verdict  of  posterity  has 
been  anticipated  ;  and  that  the  posthumous  reproba- 
tion of  the  Crimean  war  has  already  begun.  There 


208  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

are  not  many  Englishmen,  to-day,  who  do  not  hold 
the  very  same  opinions  regarding  this  war,  that  made 
John  Bright  the  most  unpopular  man  in  the  United 
Kingdom  in  1854,  and  deprived  him  of  his  seat  in 
Parliament. 

"  For  eleven  months  Sebastopol  was  held  against 
"  the  allied  aggressors  ;  and  in  the  whole  empire,  from 
"  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  to  the  Baltic,  one  thought, 
"  one  resolution  was  dominant,  to  fulfil  duty,  to  protect 
"  the  Fatherland  at  any  cost  of  property  and  life. 
"  Husbandmen  who  had  never  left  the  fields  they 
"  cultivated,  hastened  to  take  up  arms  for  the  holy 
"  struggle,  and  were  not  inferior  to  experienced  war- 
"riorsin  bravery  and  self-renunciation."  (Manifesto  of 
Alexander  II  in  1856.) 

To  use  the  language  of  Froude,  "  the  whole  power 
"  of  England  and  France,  supported  passively  by  Aus- 
"  tria  and  actively  by  Sardinia  and  Turkey,  succeeded, 
"  with  communications  secure  and  rapid,  with  every 
"  advantage  for  procuring  supplies,  in  partially  con- 
"  quering  a  single  stronghold.  It  was  a  great  victory, 
"  but  it  was  achieved  at  a  cost,  to  England  alone  of 
"  eighty  millions  of  money  and  perhaps  fifty  thousand 
"  lives."  "Indisputably,"  he  adds,  "  we  have  learned  to 
"  form  a  better  measure  of  Russia's  strength.  At  the 
"  same  time  we  have  been  forced  to  modify,  materially, 
"our  conceptions  of  Russian  barbarism.  When  the 
"Tiger  was  wrecked  at  Odessa,  her  crew,  it  was 
"  thought,  would  be  sent  to  the  mines  of  Siberia,  or 
"  be  sold  as  slaves.  Lieutenant  Royer  found  himself 
"  treated  as  a  guest  rather  than  as  a  conquered  enemy, 
"  and  the  English  prisoners  have  given  but  one  account 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR.  209 

"  of  the  courtesy  with  which  they  wrere  entertained. 
"  The  officers  who,  in  the  Crimean  War  and  elsewhere, 
"  came  in  personal  contact  with  Russians,  never  speak 
"  of  them  except  with  regard  as  gentlemen,  and  writh 
"respect  as  soldiers."  (Short  Studies,  Vol.  II, 
P.  420.) 

In  spite  of  the  prevailing  impression  that  the  Peace 
of  Paris  was  but  a  truce,  Lord  Palmerston  announced 
to  England  that  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  1856,  were 
"considered  generally  satisfactory." 

Certainly  as  far  as  the  Christians  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire  whose  interests  had  indirectly  led  to  the 
Crimean  War,  the  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Paris 
were  quite  as  unsatisfactory  as  the  "  careful  provision 
against  future  misgovernment "  announced  by  Lord 
Salisbury  after  the  Bulgarian  War  twenty  years  later. 
"  The  leopard  cannot  change  his  spots,"  and  no  amount 
of  Treaties  can  cure  the  vices  of  Turkish  misrule. 

During  the  Crimean  War,  which  lasted  nearly  three 
years,  more  than  four  million  lives  were  sacrificed ; 
not  in  the  cause  of  freedom  ;  not  to  redress  the  wrongs 
of  the  oppressed,  or  to  help  forward  the  wheel  of 
progress.  No,  but  to  pave  the  way  for  the  bloody 
atrocities  which  in  1876,  called  forth  one  long  cry  of 
horror  and  indignation  throughout  Christendom. 


210  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

THE    BULGARIAN    WAR. 

Since  the  treaty  of  Paris,  1856,  the  condition  of 
the  Christians,  far  from  being  ameliorated  by  the 
uHati  humayoum,"  became  more  intolerable  from 
year  to  year,  and  many  insurrections,  at  first  partial, 
then  simultaneous,  broke  out  in  Bosnia  and  Herzge- 
vonia  among  these  unfortunates,  who  were  driven  to 
desperation  by  the  ever-increasing  barbarity  of  their 
task-masters.  An  Englishman,  named  Baker,  who 
had  considerable  landed  "  interests  "  at  Salonica,  as- 
sures us  in  his  work  on  "  Turkey,"  (p.  172.  Henry 
Holt,  1877,)"  that  there  has  never  been  a  revolt  in 
Turkey  in  modern  times,  without  the  presence  of 
Russian  agents."  And  we  have  no  reason  for  doubt- 
ing the  authority  of  this  earnest  Turcophil,  when  he 
informs  us,  on  the  same  page,  that :  "  The  most  wan- 
"  ton  and  unbridled  extravagance  reigned  at  the  palace 

" the   corruption  produced    by    the    foreign 

"  loans  found  its  way  into  every  artery  of  the  State  and 

"  poisoned  the   very  existence  of  the  country 

"new  loans  could  only  be  obtained  by  promises, 
"  which  it  was  impossible  to  fulfil,  and  the  promises 
"  were  made,  repeated,  added  to,  without  any  inten- 
"  tion  of  carrying  them  out.  Some  idea  may  be  formed 
"  of  what  became  of  the  loans,  when,  as  early  as  1858, 
"  the  debt  incurred  by  the  Civil  List  in  less  than  six 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  211 

"  months  amounted  to  the  sum  of  £3,000,000,000  ster- 
"  ling.  It  was  only  natural  that  a  discontented  popu- 
"  lation  should  be  the  result ;  and  we  shortly  find 
"  signs  of  rebellion  springing  up  in  almost  every  part 
"  of  the  country,  p.  172.  "  Turkey  "  Baker.  We 
see  here  what  use  was  made  of  the  loans  so  liberally 
subscribed  in  Europe,  by  England  in  particular,  to 
enable  the  Turks  to  carry  out  the  reforms  stipulated 
for  by  the  treaty  of  Paris.  And  I  leave  the  reader 
to  judge  for  himself,  whether  the  revolts  and  the  mas- 
sacres, which  preluded  the  Bulgarian  war,  were  not 
due  to  other  causes  than  the  "  presence  of  Russian 
agents." 

In  1875  the  situation  was  thus  reviewed  by  Glad- 
stone, sincerely  penitent  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in 
the  Crimean  war :  "  Twenty  years  ago,  he  said, 
"  France  and  England  determined  to  try  a  great  ex- 
"  periment  in  remodeling  the  administrative  system 
"  of  Turkey,  with  the  hope  of  curing  its  intolerable 
"  vices  and  making  good  its  not  less  intolerable  defi- 
"  ciencies.  For  this  purpose,  having  defended  her  in- 
"  tegrity,  they  made  also  her  independence  secure,  and 
"  they  devised  at  Constantinople,  the  reforms  which 
"  were  publicly  enacted  in  an  imperial  Firman  or 
"  Hati  Humayoum." 

"  The  successes  of  the  Crimean  war,  purchased  with 
"  the  aid  of  Sardinia,  by  a  vast  expenditure  of  French 
6  i  and  English  life  and  treasure,  gave  to  Turkey,  for  the 
"first  time,  perhaps,  in  her  blood-stained  history, 
"  twenty  years  of  repose,  not  disturbed,  either  by  her 
"  self  or  by  any  foreign  power.  The  Cretan  insurrec- 
"  tion  imparted  a  shock  to  confidence,  but  it  was  com- 


212  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM* 

"posed,  and  Turkey  was  again  trusted.  The  insur- 
"rections  of  18Y5,  much  more  thoroughly  examined, 
"  have  disclosed  the  total  failure  of  the  Porte  to  fulfil 
"  the  engagements,  which  she  had  contracted  under 
"circumstances  peculiarly  binding  on  interest,  on 
"  honor  and  on  gratitude." 

So  totally,  indeed,  had  the  Turks  failed  to  keep  any 
of  their  promises  of  reform,  and  so  hopeless  did  the 
condition  of  these  hapless  Christians  appear,  that 
they  at  lirst  refused  the  mediation  of  the  Powers,  de- 
claring that  they  preferred  death  to  Turkish  rule. 

"  If  you  are  not  willing  to  help  us  to  attain  our  lib- 
"erty,  they  said,  at  least  you  cannot  compel  us  to 
a  enter  into  slavery  again.  We  will  never  fall  into 
u  the  hands  of  the  Turks  alive." 

About  this  time  Turkey  declared  herself  under  the 
necessity  of  partially  repudiating  her  national  del  >t ; 
the  interest  of  which  was  to  be  paid,  for  the  next  five 
years,  half  in  gold  and  half  in  new  five  per  cent, 
bonds,  the  tribute  from  Egypt  and  the  tobacco  reve- 
nue being  mortgaged  as  security.  Bondholders  be- 
came alarmed,  and  the  European  Powers  awoke  to  the 
necessity  of  seeing  that  the  reforms  stipulated  for,  by 
the  Treaty  of  Paris,  were  executed.  The  Balkan 
provinces  are  chiefly  agricultural,  and  the  Christians, 
(rams)  are  the  cultivators  of  the  soil.  If  they  were 
allowed  to  be  exterminated,  or  if  they  abandoned 
the  plough  for  martial  weapons,  no  taxes  could 
be  collected,  and  Turkey  would  be  less  and  less  able 
to  pay  her  debts. 

The  Powers,  therefore,  intervened  by  the  Protocol 
known  as  the  Andrassy  Note,  and  the  Sultan  once 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  213 

more  made  brilliant  promises  of  reform,  which  the 
Powers  believed,  or  again  affected  to  believe.  Eng- 
land even  tendered  to  the  Sultan  the  cordial  expres- 
sion of  her  hopes,  "  that  •  he  would  soon  succeed  in 
quelling  the  revolts  of  his  subjects  and  restoring 
"  order."  Let  us  trust,  that  she  did  not  foresee 
how  the  Bulgarian  atrocities  would  soon  realize  her 
"  hopes." 

Some  of  the  records  of  her  Blue  Books,  regard- 
ing the  Eastern  Question,  will  be  an  everlasting  blot 
on  England's  escutcheon.  Through  them  all  is  heard, 
more  or  less  distinctly,  the  "  jingling  of  the  guinea, 
that  helps  the  hurt  that  honor  feels."  (Locksley 
Hall.)  I  will  quote  only  one  passage,  which  is  from  a 
letter  addressed  to  Lord  Derby,  by  Sir  Henry 
Elliott,  ambassador  at  Constantinople,  September  4, 
1876.  "  We  have  been  upholding  what  we  know  to  be 
"  a  semi-civilized  nation,  liable  under  certain  circum- 
"  stances  to  be  carried  into  fearful  excesses  :  but  the 
"  fact  of  this  having  just  now  been  strikingly  brought 
"  home  to  all  of  us  (by  the  Bulgarian  massacres)  can 
"  not  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  abandoning  a  policy, 
"  which  is  the  only  one  that  can  be  followed  with  a 
"  due  regard  to  our  own  interests." 

Disraeli,  (Beaconsfield)  like  Lord  Palmerston,  had, 
or  affected  to  have,  absolute  faith  in  the  Turks.  It 
wras  a  fixed  idea  with  this  party,  that  the  repression 
of  Russia,  by  any  and  all  means,  was  a  sine  qua  non 
of  the  existence  of  British  India,  and  the  only  pal- 
ladium of  England's  commerce  in  the  East.  And  as 
the  maintenance  of  Turkey  seemed  the  only  means  of 
preventing  Russian  expansion,  they  refused  absolutely 


214  SLAV   AND   MOSLEM. 

to  heed  any  considerations,  opposed  to  a  policy  shaped 
entirely  by  "  British  interests." 

Millions  of  Christians  must,  if  necessary,  be  sacri- 
ficed to  this  Moloch,  and  their  cries  must  be  drowned 
as  effectually  as  possible,  so  as  not  to  cause  a  scandal 
in  Europe.  All  reports  of  Turkish  oppression  and 
Christian  disaffection  were  treated  as  mere  u  coffee 
house  babble,"  invented  by  Russia  for  her  own  wicked 
ends.  Disraeli,  an  Anglican  Jew,  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  feel  much  interest  in  the  fate  of  the  Balkan 
Christians  ;  but  even  Lord  Derby's  only  suggestion  to 
the  Porte  was  that  the  insurrections  must  be  put  down, 
as  promptly  and  effectually  as  possible. 

Historians  and  humanitarians,   in  future  ages,  will 

"  O 

ponder  in  amazement  over  the  strange  moral  aberra 
tion  of  a  nineteenth  century  government,  supposed  to 
be  in  the  vanguard  of  Christian  civilization. 

"  O  tempora,  O  mores,"  they  may  well  exclaim,  as 
they  read,  how  the  interests  of  millions  of  oppressed 
Christians,  the  rights  of  humanity  and  justice  were 
laid  in  the  balance  with  British  dollar  and  cent  in- 
terests, and  found  wanting. 

Meanwhile  the  Montenegrins  and  the  Servians 
joined  the  insurgents  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegevonia, 
and  the  rebellion  assumed  alarming  proportions. 
"  With  us,"  said  Milan,  of  Servia,  "  are  our  brave 
"  Montenegrin  allies,  led  by  their  noble  chief,  Nikita, 
"  with  us  are  those  valiant  Herzgevonians  and  those 
"  martyr  Bosnians.  Our  brothers,  the  Bulgarians, 
"  await  our  coming,  and  we  hope  that  the  glorious 
"  Hellenes,  the  descendants  of  Themistocles  and  Boz- 
"  zaris,  will  join  us  ere  long.  Forward,  then,  noble 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  215 

"  heroes.  Let  us  march  in  the  name  of  Almighty 
"  God,  protector  of  nations  ;  let  us  march  in  the  name 
"  of  justice,  liberty  and  civilization." 

Thousands  of  Russians  of  all  ranks  hastened  to  the 
assistance  of  their  fellow  Slavs,  without  even  the  for- 
mality of  seeking  the  consent  of  the  Czar,  or  of  their 
local  authorities.  Foremost  among  these  volunteers, 
whose  chivalrous  devotion  to  a  noble  cause,  convinced 
this  poor  old  money-making  world  of  ours,  that  the  race 
of  preiwo  chevaliers  is  not  yet  wholly  extinct,  was  the 
valiant  young  Ivireef,  of  Moscow,  whose  lofty  stature, 
"  all  clothed  in  white,"  like  Henry  of  Navarre  at 
Ivry,  made  him  the  common  target  of  the  Moslems. 
In  his  preface  to  the  Crimean  War,  Mr.  Kinglake  has 
admirably  related  the  death  of  this  young  hero,  which 
kindled  a  name  of  enthusiasm,  that  spread  like  wild 
fire  through  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  Russia, 
and  made  the  Bulgarian  war  a  necessity  for  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

In  Bulgaria,  the  arrest  of  two  conspirators,  who 
were  rescued  by  their  compatriots  from  prison,  gave 
rise  to  an  insurrection,  (May  1876)  and  to  quell  and 
punish  it,  an  improvised  militia  of  frantic  Moslems, 
(bashi  bazuks)  were  let  loose  upon  the  Christian  vil- 
lages. Many  thousands,  (fifteen  thousand,  according 
to  Schuyler)  of  innocent  victims,  mostly  women  and 
children,  were  inhumanly  massacred,  while  many  more 
were  dragged  to  slave  markets,  and  sold  for  a  few  lires 
apiece. 

This  time  England's  better  nature  was  fairly  roused. 
There  was  a  veritable  "  uprising  of  the  English  people." 
Four  hundred  public  meetings  were  held  in  different 


216  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

parts  of  the  Kingdom  to  protest  against  these  atroci- 
ties ;  and,  be  it  said  to  the  glor  j  of  the  British  working 
classes,  the  much  maligned  proletariat,  that  there  were 
no  ingredients  of  politics  and  politicians  in  these  es- 
sentially popular  and  spontaneous  manifestations  of 
righteous  indignation.  The  diplomats  and  politicians, 
the  men  of  wealth  and  elegant  leisure,  were  all  off  on 
summer  tours,  on  pleasure  bent. 

Great  men  like  John  Bright,  always  the  friend  of 
Russia,  Gladstone,  Freeman,  and  others,  publicly 
denounced  England,  as  the  accomplice  of  the  Turks 
in  their  deeds  of  horror,  by  the  moral  and  material 
support  she  had  so  freely  given  them  in  recent  years. 
My  pen  refuses  to  retrace  the  details  of  these  horrors, 
and  to  stigmatize  them,  I  will  borrow  the  eloquent 
language  of  the  great  statesman :  "  There  has  been 
"  perpetrated,"  said  Gladstone,  "  under  the  authority 
"  of  a  Government,  to  which  all  the  time  we  have 
"  been  giving  the  strongest  moral  support,  and  for  part 
"  of  the  time  material  support,  crimes  and  outrages 
u  so  vast  in  scale,  as  to  exceed  all  modern  examples 
"  arid  so  unutterably  vile  as  well  as  fierce  in  character, 
"  that  it  passes  the  power  of  heart  to  conceive  and  of 
"  tongue  and  pen  adequately  to  describe  them.  These 
"  are  the  Bulgarian  horrors.  There  is  not  a  criminal 
"  in  an  European  jail ;  there  is  not  a  cannibal  in  the 
"  South  Sea  Islands,  whose  indignation  would  not 
"  arise  and  overboil  at  the  recital  of  that  which  has 
"  been  done,  which  has  been  too  late  examined,  but 
"  which  remains  unavenged — which  has  left  behind 
"  the  fierce  passions  that  produced  it,  and  which  may 
"  spring  up  in  another  murderous  harvest,  from  the 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  217 

"  soil  reeked  with  blood,  and  in  the  air  tainted  with 
"  every  imaginable  deed  of  crime  and  shame.  That 
"  such  things  should  be  once  is  a  damning  disgrace  to 
"  the  portion  of  our  race  -which  did  them  ;  that  a  door 
"  should  be  left  open  for  their  ever  so  barely  possible 
"  repetition  would  spread  that  shame  over  the  whole." 

Almost  immediately  after  these  horrible  massacres, 
the  British  fleet  anchored  in  Besica  Bay.  It  was  never 
clearly  explained  why,  but  it  certainly  looked  very 
much  as  if  England  were  preparing  to  champion  the 
Turks  once  again,  as  she  had  done  in  the  Crimean  war. 
However  this  may  be,  every  Englishman's  cheek  must 
tingle  with  shame  at  the  thought,  that  all  lookers-on, 
the  Turks  themselves  included,  took  for  granted  that 
the  presence  of  this  fleet  in  Turkish  waters  was  a 
friendly  demonstration  on  the  part  of  the  English 
towards  the  Sultan,  and  that  they  were,  in  fact,  going  to 
help  him  to  restore  order  among  his  rebellious  sub- 
jects. The  true  facts  of  the  case  will  probably  never 
be  known.  The  government  in  England  even  did 
their  utmost  to  prevent  the  real  state  of  affairs  in  the 
Balkans  from  transpiring,  and  succeeded,  for  a  long 
time,  in  keeping  the  country  in  the  dark. 

The  Turkish  government  made  some  feeble  and 
lying  attempts  to  disavow  the  Bulgarian  atrocities,  but, 
practically,  they  gave  themselves  the  lie,  by  publicly 
rewarding  the  chief  instigators  and  perpetrators,  and 
disgracing  those  who  had  humanely  intervened  on 
behalf  of  unoffending  villages. 

Fortunately  for  the  true  knowledge  of  the  facts,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  sent  a  special  com- 


218  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

mission  of  inquiry  to  Bulgaria,  and  history  will  owe 
them  a  debt  of  gratitude,  for  having  furnished  reliable 
documents  on  this  matter,  in  which  every  European 
State  was  more  or  less  exposed  to  an  imputation  of 
bias ;  whereas,  "America,  as  Mr.  Gladstone  observed, 
"  had  neither  alliances  with  Turkey  nor  grudges 
"  against  her,  nor  purposes  to  gain  by  her  destruction. 
"  She  entered  into  this  matter  simply  on  the  ground 
"  of  its  broad  human  character  and  moment.  She  had 
"  no  "American  interests  "  to  tempt  her  from  her  in- 
"  tegrity  and  to  vitiate  her  aims." 

On  the  22nd  August,  1876,  Mr.  Eugene  Schuyler 
reported  to  the  American  Government  that  the  out- 
rages of  the  Turks  were  fully  established.  "An 
"attempt  however,  has  been  made,  he  said,  and  not  by 
"  Turks  alone,  to  defend  and  to  palliate  them,  on  the 
"  ground  of  the  previous  atrocities  which,  it  is  alleged 
"  were  committed  by  the  Bulgarians.  I  have  carefully 
"  investigated  this  point  and  am  unable  to  find  that  the 
"  Bulgarians  committed  any  outrages  or  atrocities,  or 
"any  acts  which  deserve  that  name.  I  have  vainly 
"  tried  to  obtain  from  the  Turkish  officials  a  list  of 
"  such  outrages.  No  Turkish  women  were  killed  in 
"  cold  blood.  No  Mussulman  was  tortured.  No  pure- 
"  ly  Turkish  village  was  attacked  or  burned.  No 
"  Mussulman  house  was  pillaged.  No  mosque  was 
desecrated  or  burned." 

Thus,  it  was  through  the  American  Consul  and 
Commissioner,  and  thanks  to  the  "  Daily  News  "  of 
London,  that  the  English  people,  who  had  been  kept 
in  the  dark  and  hoodwinked  by  their  own  government, 
were  enlightened  as  to  these  atrocities.  "What  can 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  219 

and  should  be  done,  either  to  punish  or  to  brand,  or 
to  prevent  ? "  was  the  question  proposed  by  Gladstone 
at  this  momentous  moment  ?  How  it  was  answered 
the  sequel  will  tell. 

About  the  middle  of  May,  (1876,)  Germany,  Aus- 
tria, Russia,  France  and  Italy,  agreed  to  send  a  threat- 
ening note  to  the  Porte,  demanding  redress  and  repa- 
ration for  the  Christians,  as  the  Andrassy  Note  had 
proved  quite  ineffectual.  England  (Lord  Derby,)  de- 
clined her  signature,  pretending  that  such  peremptory 
language  on  the  part  of  the  Powers,  was  "  a  breach  of 
international  courtesy."  A  few  months  later,  how- 
ever, the  envoy e  of  the  European  Powers,  England 
included,  assembled  at  Constantinople  and  sent  a  Pro- 
tocol to  the  Sultan,  much  in  the  same  sense  as  the  pre- 
vious one. 

It  was  rejected  by  the  Turkish  government  in  toto, 
and  all  the  plenipotentiaries  immediately  left  the  city, 
shaking  the  dust  from  their  feet,  but  too  righteous  to 
sin  against  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  (1856.)  And  thus, 
were  these  hapless  Christians,  once  again,  abandoned 
to  their  fate,  and  to  the  ruthless  vengeance  of  the 
Moslems. 

It  was  on  this  same  principle  of  non-intervention, 
that,  during  the  massacres  in  Crete,  (1866)  the  Foreign 
Secretary,  (Lord  Derby  then  Stanley,)  inhumanly  for- 
bade the  English  consul,  Mr.  Dickson,  and  the  naval 
officers,  to  aid  even  helpless  women  and  children  to 
escape  from  their  Turkisli  hell  hounds,  by  transfering 
them  to  Greece.  It  would  have  been  interfering  in 
the  "  relations  of  the  Sultan  with  his  subjects,"  and 
this  the  Powers  had  pledged  themselves  in  1856,  not 


220  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

to  do.  Any  such  interference  would  have  been  a 
breach  of  courtesy,  all  the  more  inadmissible,  that  the 
Sultan  Abdul  Aziz  was,  at  that  very  moment,  being 
feasted  at  Windsor,  and  receiving  the  adulations  of 
the  British  public. 

Was  there  ever  a  more  Pharisaical  '•  whitening  of 
sepulchers  "  and  "  washing  of  platters  " — a  more 
miserable  "  straining  at  a  gnat  and  swallowing  a 
camel  ?" 

The  Russians,  having  traditional  and  ineluctable 
duties  towards  their  fellow  Slavs,  and  fellow  Chris- 
tians, did  not  feel  bound  by  any  such  Pharisaical  scru- 
ples, and  they  were  preparing  to  arm  in  their  defence, 
as  soon  as  it  became  clear  that  the  negotiations  of  the 
Powers  were  futile. 

In  January,  1877,  Prince  Gortchakoff,  sent  a  Circu- 
lar to  the  European  Cabinets,  calling  to  their  notice, 
"  that  after  more  than  a  year  of  diplomatic  efforts,  the 
"  position  was  the  same  as  at  the  beginning  of  the 
"  crisis,  still  further  aggravated  by  the  blood  that  has 
"  been  shed,  the  passions  that  have  been  stirred, 
"  the  ruins  that  have  been  accumulated.  The 
"  Porte  pays  no  heed  to  its  engagements.  Far 
*•  from  having  progressed  to  a  satisfactory  solution, 
"  the  state  of  the  East  has  grown  worse,  and  remains 
"  a  permanent  menance  to  the  peace  of  Europe,  the 
"  sentiments  of  humanity,  and  the  conscience  of 
"  Christian  nations." 

Another  Protocol  was  launched  from  London, 
(April,  1877,)  and  was  declared  by  the  Porte  to  be  ktdes- 
titute  of  all  equity,  and  of  all  obligatory  character." 
Lord  Derby  declared  he  really  did  not  see  what  fur- 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  221 

ther  steps  the  British  government  could  take  to  avert 
war.  Apparently,  he  did  not  think  like  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, "  that  the  time  had  come  for  England  to  emu- 
late Kussia,  by  sharing  in  her  good  deeds."  Kussia, 
who  "  had  been  playing  the  part,"  he  says,  "  which 
"  the  English  think  especially  their  own,  in  resistance 
"  to  tyranny,  in  befriending  the  oppressed,  in  laboring 
"  for  the  happiness  of  mankind." 

It  was,  at  least,  fortunate  for  Kussia  and  the  Balkan 
Christians,  that  the  Bulgarian  atrocities  had  produced 
so  great  a  revulsion  of  popular  feeling  against  the 
Turks,  that  even  a  Disraeli  Cabinet  did  not  dare  to 
enter  into  another  monstrous  alliance  with  them  against 
the  champions  of  the  Christians.  But  I  am  ashamed 
to  say  that  official  neutrality  did  not  prevent  the 
Turks  from  recruiting  many  officers  in  England  ;  and 
that  in  spite  of  it,  British  guineas  and  firearms  eked 
out  their  powers  of  resistance  during  the  struggle  with 
Russia. 

On  the  20th  of  April,  1877,  about  two  weeks  after 
the  last  Protocol  had  been  declared  by  the  Porte, 
"  to  be  devoid  of  all  equity,"  the  Czar  Alexander  the 
Second  proclaimed  his  Manifesto,  announcing  the 
campaign  against  the  Turks. 

"  Our  faithful  subjects,"  he  said,  "  know  the  lively 
"  interest  we  have  always  felt  in  the  destinies  of  the 
"  oppressed  population  of  Turkey.  Our  desire  to  im- 
"  prove  and  render  their  lot  secure,  is  shared  by  the 
"  whole  Russian  people,  who  now  show  themselves 
"  ready  to  offer  fresh  sacrifices,  in  order  to  alleviate 
"  the  position  of  the  Christians.  In  concert  with  the 
"  great  European  Powers,  our  allies  and  friends,  we 


SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

"  have  endeavored,  by  means  of  pacific  negotiations, 
"  to  effect  an  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the 
u  Balkan  Christians.  For  two  years  we  have  made 
"  unceasing  efforts  to  induce  the  Porte  to  grant  such 
"  reforms  as  would  assure  the  Christians  against  the 
"  arbitrary  use  of  authority  by  the  local  magistrates, 
"  but  the  Porte  has  remained  unshaken  in  its  categori- 
"  cal  refusal  of  any  guarantee  for  the  safety  of  the 
"  Christians.  By  its  refusal,  the  Porte  places  us  under 
"  the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  arms.  "We  now 
"  invoke  the  blessing  of  God  Almighty  on  our  valiant 
"  armies,  and  we  give  the  order  to  cross  the  Turkish 
"  frontier." 

It  was  not  too  soon.  The  insurgents  had  obtained 
many  victories  over  the  Turks,  but  they  could  not 
long  have  maintained  themselves  against  superior  num- 
bers. The  wild  Bashi-Bazucks  were  bearing  down 
upon  them  ;  and  butcheries,  more  horrible  than  those 
of  Bulgaria,  would  undoubtedly  have  been  perpe- 
trated, if  the  Russians  had  not  intervened  at  this 
moment. 

The  frontier  State  of  Roumania  had  unhesitatingly 
placed  its  rivers,  railways,  roads,  ports  and  telegraphs 
at  Russia's  disposal,  and,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
the  Porte  declared  war  against  this  Province.  The 
Roumanians  replied  by  a  declaration  of  independence, 
and  placed  an  army  in  the  field  under  Prince  Charles, 
to  join  the  Russians. 

During  the  Bulgarian  campaigns,  which  lasted 
about  a  year,  the  Russians  were  nearly  always 
successful.  At  Plewna,  a  strong  place  that  com- 
manded the  road  to  Constantinople,  the  Turks 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  223 

fought  with  all  the  energy  of  despair,  and  the 
Russians,  ill  equipped  and  lacking  victuals,  were 
three  times  repulsed.  For  nearly  seventy  hours 
these  brave  soldiers  subsisted  on  one  day's  rations  of 
biscuits,  while  the  nearest  water  supply  was  a  mile  off. 

Finally,  however,  Plewna  was  taken  ;  and  the  victo- 
rious army  advanced  to  Adrianople.  The  Russians  were 
within  a  few  hours'  march  of  Constantinople,  but  they 
abstained  from  entering  the  Sultan's  capital.  For,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  Alexander  the  Second  had 
pledged  his  word  to  England,  "  that  he  had  no  inten- 
"  tioii  of  acquiring  Constantinople,  and  that  if  he 
"  were  forced  to  occupy  a  part  of  Bulgaria,  it  would 
"  only  be  provisionally,  until  the  peace  and  secu- 
"  rity  of  the  Christian  populations  were  secured." 
But  for  this  promise,  and  popular  feeling  in  Great 
Britain,  it  is  quite  probable  that  England  would  have 
resumed  her  role  of  protecting  the  Turks,  and  there 
would  have  been  a  repetition  of  the  Crimean  war. 

When  General  Grant  said  that  Russia's  abstention 
from  entering  Constantinople  at  this  conjuncture  was 
the  greatest  mistake  a  nation  ever  committed,  he  was 
either  not  aware  of  this  secret  engagement  made  with 
Lord  Loftus,  the  British  Ambassador  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, or  he  considered,  with  reason,  that  England's 
sending  her  fleet  into  the  Bosphorus  was  a  violation  of 
her  engagements  of  neutrality,  which  justified  Russia 
in  not  abiding  by  her  promises. 

Evidently  the  Russians  were  masters  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  had  well  earned  the  right  to  dictate  their 
own  terms,  when  the  Sultan  sued  for  peace.  In  the 
Treaty  of  San  Stefano,  drawn  up  by  Ignatief,  and 


224:  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

acceded  to  by  the  Porte,  they  certainly  evinced  great 
moderation  and  disinterestedness.  All  that  they 
demanded  was  the  independence  of  Bulgaria,  Servia, 
Montenegro  and  Roumania,  with  extension  of  terri- 
tory ;  the  evacuation  of  certain  forts,  and  the  payment 
of  war  indemnity. 

Traitrous  and  blood-thirsty  in  war  as  in  peace,  the 
Turks  had,  during  the  Bulgarian  campaigns,  shame- 
fully violated  the  rights  of  humanity,  laid  down  in 
the  Convention  of  Geneva,  and  subscribed  to  by  every 
nation  having  any  pretension  to  being  civilized. 

The  wounded  and  the  dying  left  on  the  battlefield 
were  barbarously  mutilated ;  ambulances  and  surgeons 
were  brutally  fired  on  while  discharging  their  duties. 
Altogether,  the  conduct  of  the  Turks  had  been  such 
that  it  might  well  be  supposed  that  they  had,  at  last, 
alienated  every  particle  of  interest  felt  in  their  desti- 
nies by  European  nations. 

Perhaps  this  was  so.  But  the  fiction  of  the  "  balance 
of  power,"  that  cloak  for  many  iniquities,  which  has 
sheltered  so  much  selfishness,  so  many  petty  passions, 
and  despicable  interests — the  "  balance  of  power" 
must  be  maintained,  said  England,  and  all  the  Powers 
answered,  Amen  ! 

When  the  true  state  of  affairs  in  the  Balkans  had 
transpired  in  England,  the  tide  of  popular  indignation 
became  so  strong,  that  it  seemed  for  a  moment  as  if  Glad- 
stone's plea  for  the  total  expulsion  of  the  Turks  from 
Europe  would  be  heard.  But  it  was  not  long  before 
his  "bag  and  baggage  policy,"  as  it  was  called,  and  the 
complete  defeat  of  the  Turks  again  evoked  the  old 
phantom.  The  danger  flag,  with  the  legendary  "Bear," 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  225 

was  waved  ominously.  Troops  were  ordered  to  Malta 
from  India,  and  the  leader  of  the  Government  Party, 
Disraeli,  declared  significantly,  "  that  in  a  righteous 
cause  England  would  commence  a  fight  that  would 
not  end  till  right  was  done."  While  the  speech  from 
the  throne  announced,  that  "  some  unexpected  occur- 
"  rence  might  render  it  incumbent  to  adopt  measures 
"  of  precaution."  "  The  unexpected  occurrence"  did 
not  happen,  for  the  Russians  scrupulously  abstained 
from  entering  Constantinople,  as  they  had  promised. 

But  after  having  allowed  Russia,  single-handed,  to 
monopolize  the  glory  of  defending  the  Christians 
against  their  oppressors,  England,  and  the  European 
Powers  at  her  suggestion,  now  insisted  on  making  the 
settlement  between  the  belligerents  a  matter  of  interna- 
tional diplomacy.  To  the  Treaty  of  San  Stefano  they 
substituted  the  Congress  of  Berlin,  whose  chief  aim, 
apparently,  was  to  give  the  Sick  Man  a  new  lease  of 
life,  and  afford  him  more  opportunities  of  exercising 
his  execrable  power  against  his  hapless  Christian  sub- 
jects, to  say  nothing  of  the  pleasure  of  mortifying 
their  magnanimous  champions. 

By  the  Congress  of  Berlin,  Bulgaria  was  divided 
into  three  unequal  portions.  Bulgaria  proper,  alone, 
was  to  be  autonomous  under  Prince  Alexander  of 
Battenberg,  a  ward  of  the  Teutonic  Cabinets.  South- 
ern Bulgaria,  or  Roumelia,  was  to  have  a  Christian 
Governor  under  the  control  of  the  Porte;  while 
the  country  stretching  westward  to  Mount  Pindus 
was  given  back  to  the  Sultan's  accursed  rule. 
In  other  words,  the  Bulgaria  to  whom  Russia 
deeded  the  precious  boon  of  freedom,  at  San 
15 


226  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Stefano,  consisted  of  65,560  square  miles,  with  3,980,- 
000  inhabitants  ;  and  the  Bulgaria  mutilated  by  the 
Congress  of  Berlin,  Consisted  of  only  24,404  square 
miles,  and  740,000  inhabitants. 

Yes,  four  million  and  a  half  Christians,  including 
the  most  laborious  and  intelligent  portion  of  the  Bul- 
garian nation,  were  handed  back  like  so  many  dumb, 
driven  cattle,  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  wicked 
Turks,  by  so-called  Christian  and  liberal  nations. 

Indeed,  it  was  the  openly  averred  intention  of  the 
Beaconsfield  (Disraeli)  Cabinet,  to  maintain  to  the 
utmost,  "  the  integrity  and  the  independence  of  Tur- 
key." It  was  no  fault  of  theirs,  that  every  one  of  these 
unfortunate  Christians,  who  had  fought  so  bravely  for 
their  deliverance,  was  not  again  cast  into  the  odious 
bondage  from  which  Russia  had  rescued  them. 

International  crimes  like  this,  must  cry  to  Heaven 
for  vengeance,  and  the  most  powerful  and  enlightened 
nation  who  participated  in  it,  is  also  the  most  guilty. 

The  Berlin  Congress  furthermore  decreed,  that 
Bosnia  and  Herzgevonia  were  to  be  occupied  by  Aus- 
tria ;  Russia  was  to  retain  Batoum,  Kars  and  Bessara- 
bia. The  independence  of  Servia  and  Montenegro  was 
recognized.  While  England,  having  concluded  a 
secret  convention  with  the  Porte,  acquired  the  Island 
of  Cyprus,  by  way  of  counsel  fees,  probably,  and  no 
doubt  congratulated  herself  on  the  good  offices  she 
had  rendered. 

Lord  Salisbury  thus  summed  up  the  situation  in 
1879.  "  The  Sultan's  dominions,  he  informed  the 
Powers,  have  been  provided  with  a  defensible  fron- 
tier, far  removed  from  his  capital.  The  interposition 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  227 

"  of  the  Austrian  power  between  the  two  independent 
"  Slav  States,  while  it  withdraws  from  him  no  terri- 
"  tory  of  strategical  or  financial  value,  offers  him  a 
"  security  against  renewed  aggression,  on  their  part, 
•'  which  no  other  possible  arrangement  could  have 
"  furnished.  Rich  and  extensive  Provinces  have  been 
"  restored  to  his  rule,  at  the  same  time  that  careful 
"  provision  against  future  misgovernment  has  been 
"  made,  which  will,  it  may  be  hoped,  assure  their  loy- 
"  alty  and  prevent  a  recurrence  of  calamities,  which 
"  have  brought  the  Ottoman  power  to  the  verge  of 
"  ruin.  Arrangments  of  a  different  kind,  having  the 
•c  same  end  in  view,  have  provided  for  the  Asiatic 
"  dominions  of  the  Sultan,  security  for  the  present, 
"  and  hope  of  prosperity  and  stability  in  the  future. 
"  Whether  use  will  be  made  of  this,  probably  the  last 
"  opportunity  which  has  thus  been  obtained  for  Tur- 
"  key,  by  the  interposition  of  the  Powers  of  Europe, 
"  of  England,  in  particular,  or  whether  it  is  to  be 
"  thrown  away,  will  depend  upon  the  sincerity  with 
"  which  Turkish  statesmen  now  address  themselves  to 
"  the  duties  of  good  government,  and  the  task  of 
"  reform." 

Does  it  not  appear  as  though  there  had  been  an 
urgent  need  to  protect  the  wolf  against  the  lamb  ? 
And  would  not  one  be  tempted  to  suppose,  that  the 
Bulgarian  campaigns  had  been  undertaken  with  the 
sole  and  express  purpose  of  assuring  the  "  integrity 
and  independence  "  of  Turkey,  to  use  the  consecrated 
formula  of  British  political  cant? 

The  interference  of  the  Powers  by  the  Berlin  Con- 
ference, was  altogether  a  most  unmitigated  imperti- 


228  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

nence,  quite  as  unjustifiable  as  if  Austria,  Germany 
and  Russia  had  stepped  in  after  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion,  and  said  to  the  United  States :  "  You 
have  beaten  England  with  the  help  of  France, 
and  conquered  your  independence  it  is  true,  but 
we,  the  Powers,  have  decided,  in  European  Consis- 
tory, that  only  Massachusetts,  New  York  and  Ver- 
mont shall  henceforth  be  autonomous.  Mexico  shall 
occupy  militarily,  the  country  adjoining  her  territory; 
the  larger  States  of  Ohio,  Texas,  etc.  shall  be  divided 
into  three  unequal  portions,  one  of  these  shall  be 
restored  to  British  rule,  another  shall  be  allowed  to 
elect  a  governor,  subject  to  England's  approval,  and 
the  remaining  portion  only  shall  be  autonomous." 

This  iniquitous  Congress  of  Berlin  has  prolonged 
the  always  critical  condition  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula 
and  prevented  these  nations  from  getting  a  fair  start. 

The  unnatural  mutilation  of  Bulgarian  Territory 
and  the  rule  of  foreign  princes,  Alexander  and  Ferdi- 
nand, the  Mannikins  of  Austria  and  Germany  have 
handicapped  this  once  powerful  nation,  before  whom 
the  Western  Caesars  trembled.  Worst  of  all,  this 
Congress  has  postponed  the  day  of  reckoning  for  the 
Turk,  this  miserable,  insolent,  parasite  boarder,  who 
should  have  been  hustled  out  of  Europe  long  ago. 

In  Russia  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  called  forth  the  most 
indignant  disapprobation.  It  was  a  scandal  to  the 
whole  nation,  to  the  Slavophils  in  particular.  Assa- 
koff  the  great  Panslavist  Editor,  declared  that  the 
Congress  was  "a  colossal  absurdity,  a  blundering  failure 
"  and  an  impudent  outrage  on  Russian  susceptibilities. 
"  Russian  diplomacy  he  said,  was  more  disastrous  than 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAR.  229 

"  nihilism;  the  nation  had  been  mocked  with  a  fool's 
"  cap  and  bells  and  their  honor  trampled  under  foot." 

To  this  day  the  Congress  of  Berlin  is  a  bitter  sub- 
ject in  Russia.  The  Czar  has  steadfastly  refused  to 
recognize  Ferdinand  of  Coburg,  and  his  occupancy  of 
the  Bulgarian  throne  is  a  direct  violation  of  the  Treaty 
of  Berlin,  which  requires  that  this  Province  be  gov- 
erned by  a  Prince,  whose  nomination  shall  be  accepted 
by  all  tli 3  Signatory  Powers.  Only  the  autocratic 
will  of  the  Czar  holds  back  the  nation  from  war,  and 
prolongs  a  precarious  reign  of  peace.  At  any  moment  a 
spark  may  kindle  a  flame,  which  would  spread  like  wild 
fire,  and  the  pressure  brought  upon  the  Government 
be  so  great,  that  resistance  may  become  impossible,  as 
was  the  case  in  1876. 

The  unjust  Treaty  of  Paris  which  had  been  wrung 
from  the  vanquished  in  1856,  was  practically  can- 
celled by  the  Congress  of  Berlin  (1879),  and  Russia's 
attitude  towards  the  Turks,  in  1852,  was  further  justi- 
fied by  England's  concluding  with  the  latter,  the 
Anglo  Turco  Convention.  For,  this  convention  gave 
to  England  not  only  the  Island  of  Cyprus,  but  also  a 
right  of  protectorate  over  the  Eastern  Christians, 
much  the  same  as  that  conferred  on  Russia  by  the 
Treaty  of  Kainardji,  the  maintaining  of  which  had  led 
to  the  Crimean  war. 

Before  another  decade  is  over  we  may  see  the 
Treaty  of  Berlin  blotted  out,  suo  vice,  in  the  smoke 
and  gore  of  battle  fields.  It  is  impossible  that  the  en- 
tire emancipation  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula  should  not 
be  accomplished,  for  whenever  a  germ  has  been  de- 
posited, involving  the  progress  of  any  portion  of  the 


SLAV     AND     MOSLEM. 

human  race,  it  is  bound  to  develop  sooner  or  later. 
The  days  have  gone  by  when  the  inhabitants  of  a  coun- 
try could  be  parcelled  out  like  dumb  driven  cattle,  re- 
gardless of  natural  affinities,  and  identity  of  language 
and  creed. 

If  we  could  surmount  all  prejudice,  and  look  above, 
and  beyond  the  accumulated  rubbish  that  has  been 
written  and  spoken  about  the  Russian  Bear's  voracious 
appetite,  we  would  see  that,  ever  since  the  fourteenth 
century,  it  has  been  the  historic  mission  of  Russian 
autocracy  to  deliver  the  Slavs  from  the  tyranny  of 
the  Crescent,  and  also  from  themselves.  Muscovite 
autocracy  saved  the  Russian  Slavs  from  the  Moslems; 
and  Imperial  autocracy,  in  the  person  of  Peter  the 
Great,  rescued  them  from  drifting  completely  out  of 
the  current  of  European  life  and  civilization,  back 
into  the  Dead  Sea  of  Asiatic  stagnation  and  barbar- 
ism. 

Russian  blood  and  Russian  treasure  have  paid  the 
ransom  of  such  of  the  Balkan  Slavs,  who  now  enjoy 
immunity,  more  or  less  complete,  from  the  Moslem 
yoke.  And,  never  has  Poland,  the  inspiring  subject 
of  so  much  "shrieking,"  from  the  days  of  the  poet, 
Campbell,  to  our  own,  enjoyed  so  much  freedom  and 
prosperity,  as  since  she  had  the  good  fortune  to  be 
annexed  to  Russia.  I  do  not  speak  of  the  Polish 
aristocracy,  but  of  the  people.  For  in  all  the  conquered 
provinces,  their  palmy  days  were  over  for  the  ruling 
classes,  who  generally  composed  two-thirds  of  the 
population,  the  rest  being  practically  serfs. 

The  Slav  family  comprises  two-thirds  of  the  entire 
population  of  Europe ;  and  only  when  autocracy  shall 


THE    BULGARIAN    WAK.  231 

have  fulfilled  its  historic  mission  of  raising  all  these 
Slavonic  races,  beginning  by  Russia  herself,  to  the 
rank  of  progressive  nations,  may  we  look  for  the  de- 
cline of  this  absolute  power,  which  appears,  to  many, 
an  offensive  anachronism.  When  Russian  autocracy 
shall  have  accomplished  this  work,  it  will  probably 
disappear  to  make  room  for  a  new  order  of  things, 
bequeathing  to  history  the  not  unusual  task  of  tardy 
vindication  and  justification  of  what  is  no  more. 


232  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 


CHAPTEK  XY. 

ALEXANDER  THE  THIRD CONSOLIDATION  OF  THE  RUSSIAN 

EMPIRE. 


The  reign  of  Nicholas  the  First  was  perhaps  as 
critical  a  time  in  Russian  history  as  that  of  Ivan  the 
Great  and  Peter  the  Great.  The  power  of  the 
boyars,  or  nobles  descended  from  Rurick,  had  been,  to 
a  great  extent,  crushed  by  these  two  rulers.  But 
there  remained  the  minor  nobility,  many  of  whom 
were  foreigners,  who  had  either  inherited  titles  or  ac- 
quired them,  and  were  all  serf  holders.  These  still 
interposed  a  barrier  between  the  throne  and  the 
masses,  and  from  their  ranks,  chiefly,  rose  the  conspira- 
tors of  1825,  of  1848,  and  the  nihilists  of  more  re- 
cent times. 

If  the  Emperor  Nicholas  strengthened  the  bureau- 
cracy and  the  police,  it  was  not  done  to  repress  the 
people,  but  to  crush  their  would-be  oppressors,  who 
were  violently  opposed  to  the  projected  emancipa- 
tion of  the  serfs.  The  "  people  of  Russia  "  are  not 
this  handful  of  ambitious  malcontents,  known  at 
home  as  "  the  intelligence,"  and  so  widely  represented 
abroad  by  their  literary  spokesmen,  magazinists  and 
newspaper  correspondents.  The  "  people  of  Russia  " 
comprise  two-thirds  of  the  nation,  and  compose  the 
rural  democracies  described  in  a  preceding  chapter. 

The  distinction  between  the  alleged  "  people  of 
Russia,"  and  the  true  people  of  Russia,  is  one  that 


ALEXANDER    III. —  CONSOLIDATION.          m         233 

cannot  be  too  much  insisted  on.  This  people  of  Rus- 
sia is  not  craving  for  constitutions  and  political  liber- 
ties, nor  for  self-government,  which  they  already 
possess  in  their  "  Mirs,"  in  a  form  which  is  entirely 
to  their  taste  :  and,  where  they  regulate  their  own  lit- 
tle home  affairs  without  the  assistance  of  any  "  boss 
politicians,"  "  rings,"  and  other  political  machinery. 
Their  only  craving  is  for  the  full  possession  of  the 
land  they  till,  a  most  healthy  craving,  which  all  gov- 
ernments would  do  well  to  foster  and  gratify. 

The  great  work  of  consolidating  and  homogenizing 
the  nation  was  begun  by  Nicholas  the  First.  To  him 
fell  the  ungrateful  task  of  repressing,  with  an  iron 
hand,  the  incipient  efforts  of  the  nobility  to  destroy 
the  only  power  capable  of  restraining  them  from  es- 
tablishing in  Russia,  as  in  Poland,  the  reign  of  oli- 
garchic anarchy,  under  cloak  of  constitutional  govern- 
ment. 

When  autocracy  shall  have  succeeded  in  crushing 
out  this  troublesome  intermediate  stratum  of  ambi- 
tious malcontents,  the  levers  of  civilization  will  be, 
more  easily  and  effectively,  applied  to  raise  the 
masses  to  the  plane  of  a  great  progressive  nation.  Only 
then  *  can  bureaucracy,  and  even  autocracy  itself,  dis- 
appear, leaving  the  people  of  Russia  to  work  out  their 
own  destinies. 

Nicholas  the  First  most  effectually  prepared  the 
way  for  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs  by  liberating 
those  on  his  private  estates,  and  by  a  succession  of 
Ukases,  which  conferred  on  all,  the  right  of  possessing 
property — of  entering  into  contracts — of  giving  evi- 
dence in  courts  of  justice.  In  many  instances,  too, 


234  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

when  proprietors  were  ruined,  peasant  communities 
were  aided,  by  loans  from  the  Imperial  Treasury,  to 
buy  the  land  ;  and  thus  they  became,  practically,  free, 
as  it  was  not  permitted,  by  law,  to  buy  and  sell  serfs 
without  the  land.  This  was  certainly  u  something  at- 
tempted, something  begun,"  that  might  well  have 
earned,  for  the  "  Iron  Emperor,"  some  of  the  meed  of 
praise,  so  freely  bestowed  upon  his  successor,  the  Czar 
Liberator. 

Full  of  solicitude  and  tenderness  for  his  soldiers  in 
the  Crimea,  and  for  all  around  him,  holding  in  his 
hand  to  the  last,  that  of  his  admirable  consort,  the 
proud,  stern  Czar  Nicholas,  who  had  presented  only 
his  iron  mask  to  his  enemies,  passed  away  cheerfully 
and  humbly,  in  the  little  vaulted,  one  windowed  room, 
he  had  occupied,  for  thirty  years  in  the  Winter  Pal- 
ace, counting  for  naught  the  splendors  of  his  official 
residence.  His  only  regret  in  dying,  was,  "  that  he 
could  not  live  to  bear  all  that  was  painful "  in  the  con- 
sequences of  the  Crimean  War,  instead  of  his  son 
Alexander  the  Second,  to  whom  his  last  words  were  : 
"  After  Russia,  I  have  loved  you  better  than  anything 
"  in  this  world." 

The  true  character  of  Nicholas  is  revealed  in  the 
remarkable  holograph  will  that  he  left — and  which 
reads  as  follows  : — 

"  I  thank  all  those  who  love  and  served  me.  I  for- 
"  give  all  who  hated  me.  I  ask  forgiveness  of  those 
"  whom  I  have  involuntarily  offended.  I  endeavored 
"  to  correct  the  bad  qualities  which  I  discovered  in 
"  myself,  and  I  succeeded  in  some  points  but  not  ID 
"  others.  With  all  my  heart  I  ask  forgiveness." 


ALEXANDER    III. CONSOLIDATION.  235 

Nicholas  the  First,  was  the  man  of  the  hour  for  his 
country,  and  posterity  will  exonerate  him  from  much 
of  the  blame,  so  unjustly  heaped  upon  his  memory. 
Others  have  entered  into  his  labors,  and  reaped  where 
he  had  sown  in  tears,  amid  the  reprobation  and  male- 
dictions of  his  contemporaries,  amid  the  ruins  and  the 
dilapidation,  that  enshrouded  the  closing  years  of  his 
long  and  prosperous  reign. 

In  1826,  it  had  appeared  to  all  that  the  throne  of  the 
Czars  was  so  completely  undermined,  that  the  least  con- 
cussion of  ill  success  would  cause  an  explosion,  in  which 
the  whole  structure  of  Church  and  State  would  be 
shattered,  for  ever.  "  Russia  will  fall  into  a  thousand 
"  pieces,  the  common  fate  of  barbarous  States,"  said 
Grenville  Murray,  with  characteristic  national  self 
complacency. 

Nevertheless,  when  Alexander  the  Second  succeeded 
his  father  in  1855,  after  the  tremendous  reverses  of 
the  Crimean  War,  no  throne  was  more  firmly  estab- 
lished, both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  death  of  Nich- 
olas the  First,  re-instated  autocracy  in  the  hearts  of 
all,  and  restored  to  the  throne  the  love  and  fidelity  of 
the  whole  nation.  Never  had  the  coronation  of  any 
Czar  excited  such  universal  interest,  or  been  more 
brilliantly  attended,  than  was  that  of  Alexander  the 
Second.  The  admiration  excited  by  the  brave  resist- 
ance of  the  Russians  during  the  Crimean  War,  had 
enlisted  the  sympathies  of  all  Europe.  And,  never, 
perhaps,  in  her  whole  history,  had  Russia  been  so  much 
respected  and  feared,  as  she  began  to  be,  immediately 
after  a  most  disastrous  war,  and  a  still  more  humiliat- 
ing peace. 


236  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Strange  to  say,  too,  the  period  that  followed  the 
death  of  Nicholas  was  the  dawning  of  Russia's  great 
day  of  the  "  Renaissance  " — the  tardy  awakening  of 
her  national  genius.  This  period  was  to  the  Northern 
Empire,  what  the  Elizabethan  Era  was  to  England, 
the  Augustan  Age  to  classical  literature. 

If  Peter  the  Great,  may  be  said  to  "  have  knouted 
Russia  into  civilization,"  it  might  also  be  said  that 
Nicholas  the  First  knouted  Russian  literature  into  ex- 
istence— by  the  severe  system  of  literary  repression  he 
instituted.  During  his  reign,  when  every  current 
seemed  frozen,  every  source  petrified,  intellectual  life 
was  acquiring  unusual  force  and  fecundity.  And,  as 
soon  as  the  reign  of  "  Censorial  Terror "  ceased,  it 
burst  forth  into  verdure  and  blossom  like  the  snow- 
clad  bosom  of  the  earth,  at  the  first  touch  of  the 
vernal  equinox. 

Melchior  de Vogue,  has  admirably  described  the 
surprising  genesis  of  a  National  literature  in  Russia, 
that  had  hitherto  produced  only  copyists  and 
imitators. 

In  a  preceding  chapter  we  have  traced  the  strange 
divagations  of  imported  liberalism,  which  followed 
close  upon  the  important  reforms,  instituted  by 
Alexander  the  Third.  The  human  mind  seems  to  be 
ever  ready  to  go  off  on  a  tangent ;  and,  to  maintain  a 
just  equilibrium,  a  strong  centripetal  force  is  as  neces- 
sary in  the  political  sphere,  as  in  the  sphere  of  nature. 

The  night  that  followed  the  assassination  of  Alexan- 
der the  Second,  was  a  solemn  hour  in  the  history  of 
Russia.  Her  political  destinies  hung  in  the  balance. 
The  Czar  Liberator  had  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  that 


ALEXANDER    III. CONSOLIDATION.  237 

constitutional  liberties  were  necessary  for  Russia's 
greatest  good,  and,  being  a  true  patriot,  he  vanquished 
his  personal  susceptibilities,  laid  aside  the  prejudices 
born  of  secular  traditions,  and,  was  about  to  promul- 
gate the  Ukase,  that  was  to  transform  "Holy  Russia," 
from  a  theocratic  autocracy,  into  a  Constitutional 
Monarchy. 

The  most  natural,  and,  apparently,  the  only  safe 
course  for  the  new  Czar,  was  to  complete  the  work  of 
his  father,  and  endow  the  nation  with  the  legacy  be- 
queathed to  them  by  their  murdered  sovereign.  But 
Alexander  the  Third,  whose  only  guiding  star  is  an 
exalted  sense  of  duty,  takes  no  counsel  with  expe- 
diency, or  considerations  of  personal  safety.  In  the 
middle  of  the  night  he  summoned  the  Counsellors  of 
State,  and  after  many  hours  of  momentous  delibera 
tion,  his  course  of  action  was  determined  on. 

The  orders  were  countermanded  that  had  already 
been  given  for  the  promulgation  of  the  Ukase,  which 
lay  on  the  table  of  Alexander  the  Second,  awaiting 
his  signature,  on  the  day  of  his  assassination.  To  the 
country,  where  all  the  demons  of  anarchy  were  abroad, 
with  the  bombs  and  steel  of  a  thousand  assassins  aimed 
at  his  breast,  Alexander  the  Third,  deliberately  and 
unfalteringly,  pronounced  his  memorable  Manifesto  on 
Autocracy,  in  which  he  declared  to  all  parties  that  it 
was  his  iirm  intention  to  govern  Russia  according  to 
her  own  national  traditions  only. 

It  seems  quite  ludicrous  that  newspaper  correspon- 
dents should  represent  as  trembling  before  the 
Nihilists,  and  concealing  himself  in  the  recesses  of  his 
palace,  a  sovereign,  who  showed  so  much  nerve  and 


238  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

courage  at  such  a  critical  moment.  And  it  is  still 
more  pitiful  that  they  should  actually  find  credence 
with  the  public.  But  how  should  this  dear  gullible 
public  refuse  its  adherence  to  an  oft-repeated  lie,  when 
Mr.  Algernon  Swinburne  vouches  for  its  truth  in  an 
epileptical  alliteration,  meant  for  poetry,  by  which  he 
incites  to  the  assassination  of  Russia's  greatest  patriot, 
to  whose  home  he  refers  as, 

"  Halls  wherein  men's  murderers,  crowned  and  cowering, 
dwell." 

In  the  recent  railway  accident  at  Borki,  half  stunned 
by  the  shock,  Alexander  the  Third's  first  impulse  was 
to  rush  to  the  assistance  of  the  victims  of  the  catas- 
trophe. The  safety  of  his  much  loved  family  was 
only  his  second  thought,  and  his  personal  safety,  appar- 
ently, never  occurred  to  this  timorous  Czar,  who  was 
singularly  endangering  his  life,  if  the  accident  were  the 
work  of  the  Nihilists,  as  might  well  be  supposed.  It 
wras  in  similar  circumstances  that  the  second  bomb  did 
its  fatal  work  on  the  13th  March,  1881.  For,  if  Alex- 
ander the  Second  had  not  insisted  on  descending  from 
his  carriage  to  pick  up  a  small  boy,  wounded  by  the 
explosion  of  the  first  bomb,  he  might  have  driven 
home  safely. 

The  Extradition  Treaty  having  been,  at  last,  con- 
cluded between  the  United  States  and  Russia,  it  is 
probable  that  these  murderous  attempts  on  the 
Czar's  life  will  become  more  rare,  as  these  would-be 
assassins  will  no  longer  find  an  asylum  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  where  they  can  pose  as  persecuted 
patriots,  and  regale  the  public  with  blood-curdling 


ALEXANDER    III. CONSOLIDATION.  239 

tales  of  autocratic  despotism,  from  which  they  have 
fled. 

When,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  Alexander 
the  Third  boldly  upraised  the  standard  of  Autocracy 
in  the  face  of  the  Nihilists,  and  declared  to  the  nation 
that  he  intended  to  govern,  according  to  their  own 
traditions  only,  and  not  according  to  any  foreign  ideals, 
he  did  not  mean  that  his  people  should,  henceforth, 
vegetate  in  the  shadow  of  ancient  abuses,  or  slacken 
their  onward  march  in  the  least.  To  the  Czar  Alex- 
ander, autocracy  is  not  merely  a  supreme  dignity, 
devolved  upon  him  by  the  accident  of  birth,  but  a 
sublime  charge,  a  sacred  burden,  imposed  by  Provi- 
dence, and  fraught  with  creative  potentialities,  which 
it  is  his  high  mission  to  render  operative  for  the  public 
wreal,  regardless  of  all  personal  repugnance  for  the 
task. 

It  is  not  for  a  foreigner  to  decide  in  a  single  chapter 
of  a  brief  essay  on  Russia,  whether,  or  no,  it  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  the  Ukase  of  a  Free  Constitution  was  not 
promulgated.  We  are  all  apt  to  imagine  that  the 
nostrums,  which  we  ourselves  have  used  successfully, 
must,  necessarily,  be  beneficial  to  our  neighbor, 
afflicted  with  a  similar  complaint.  And  yet,  it  may 
well  happen,  that  owing  to  pathological  idiosyncracies, 
what  is  health  and  life  to  us  may  be  death  to  him. 

It  wrould  be  temerarious  indeed,  to  break  a  lance  for 
Autocracy,  at  a  time  when  half  the  world  is  Republic 
struck.  Men's  eyes  are  so  dazzled  by  the  glamor  of 
"  Universal  Suffrage,"  the  "sovereignty  of  the  people," 
and  various  other  political  mirages  and  catchwords, 
that  it  is  almost  an  impertinence  to  ask  them  to  examine 


240  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

if  the  new  system  be  not  the  old  one  in  a  new  dress  ? 
and  the  new  methods  the  old  ones  with  more  eupho- 
nious names? 

Whenever  the  new  system  is  proclaimed  in  any  part 
of  the  world  by  a  handful  of  soldiers,  or  would-be 
politicians,  are  not  the  old  methods  of  repression  and 
"stamping  out,"  so  bitterly  reproached  to  autocratic 
rulers,  immediately  resorted  to  by  these  apostles  of 
freedom  and  Republican  forms  against  all  who  dare 
to  advocate  the  old  system,  or  offer  any  opposition  to 
the  new  government  ? 

The  infallibility,  de  facto,  this  inalienable  ex  hy- 
pothesi,  without  which  no  form  of  government  can 
exist,  is  loudly  proclaimed  by  the  new  rulers,  and  in 
spite  of  their  much  vaunted  "majesty,"  the  "sover- 
eign people"  are  not  long  in  discovering  that  the  rule 
of  King  Majority,  and  sometimes  of  King  Min- 
ority too,  is  quite  as  absolute  as  that  of  any  of  those 
old  time  despots,  who  swore  by  the  "divine  right 
of  Kings." 

Ardent  free  Tradists,  citizens  are  condemned  in 
the  name  of  Liberty  to  live  and  die  Protectionists. 
Prohibitionists,  by  earnest  conviction,  they  must  en- 
dure to  the  end  the  hateful  eye  sore  of  liquor  saloons 
on  every  street  corner.  Nay,  they  must  submit  to  the 
added  grievance  of  liquor  franchises,  and  to  the  vexa- 
tions of  a  McKinley  Bill,  and  a  tariff  that  protects 
everything  but  the  homespun  product  of  the  brain ; 
even  manufactures  that  do  not  exist,  that  of  albumen- 
ized  paper  for  instance,  and  tin  plate. 

The  relations  between  the  governed  and  the  gov- 
erning being,  therefore,  much  the  same  in  substance, 


ALEXANDER    III. — CONSOLIDATION.  241 

under  all  circumstances,  the  substitution  of  one  form 
of  government  for  another  is  not  necessarily  an 
indication  of  progress. 

When  justice  arid  uprightness  reign  the  nation  is 
free,  be  the  government  what  it  may.  But  when  self- 
seeking  and  corruption  lurk  in  high  places,  the  nation 
is  in  bondage,  be  the  suffrage  never  so  universal. 

During  the  thirteen  years  of  his  reign  which  have 
elapsed  since  1881,  Alexander  the  Third,  whom  even 
Mr.  George  Kennan  admits  to  be  "a  well  meaning 
man,"*  has  been  unremitting  in  his  vigilance,  and  in 
his  efforts  to  reform  the  bureaucracy  and  eliminate 
Teutonic  formalism  and  red  tapeism,  which  rendered 
the  administration  of  justice  in  particular  so  com- 
plicated and  protracted. 

The  cumulation  of  offices,  another  fruitful  source  of 
evils,  has  also  been  abolished,  and  reforms  in  the  de- 
'partment  of  education,  have  removed  one  of  the  prin. 
cipal  causes  of  the  Revolutionary  movement  by  open- 
ing to  Russian  youth  careers  which  had  seemed  hitherto 
to  be  the  monopoly  of  privileged  foreigners,  German 
Jews  in  particular.  It  was  the  lack  of  expansion  for 
their  intellectual  energies  that  often  led  young  people 
of  the  rapidly  increasing  educated  proletariat  to  en- 
gage in  political  conspiracies  by  way  of  expending  the 
mental  activity,  for  which  they  found  so  little  scope. 

Alexander  the  Third  is  a  Slav  and  a  Slavophil,  par 
excellence'^  he  believes  that  Russia  has  in  her  own  tra- 


*This  admission  was  made  before  Mr.  Kennan  discovered  "that  the 
rulers  of  Russia  to-day  are  oppressors,  whose  chief  aim  seems  to  be 
the  destruction  of  all  the  liberal  institutions  that  their  predecessors 
founded."    July,  1893,  Century, 
16 


242  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

ditions  and  institutions  all  the  elements  needed  for 
her  consolidation  and  edification,  and  that  to  herself, 
only,  must  she  look  for  her  own  salvation.  "With  un- 
erring logic,  too,  has  he  pursued  two  fundamental 
policies — the  Russianizing  or  homogenizing  of  Russia, 
and  the  extirpation  from  her  midst  of  all  parasite 
growths. 

The  position  of  Finland  and  some  of  the  Baltic  Pro- 
vinces, had  been,  hitherto,  somewhat  that  of  a  "nation 
within  a  nation,"  as  the  inhabitants  of  these  provinces 
spoke  their  respective  languages,  and  were  governed 
by  local  laws  and  customs.  Not  long  since  when  some 
well  intentioned  German- American  priests  tried  to 
have  the  mother  tongue  exclusively  used  in  churches 
and  parochial  schools,  frequented  by  German  immi- 
grants, a  cry  of  "Cahenlyism"  was  raised,  and  the 
movement  was  soon  crushed  out,  as  being  un-Ameri- 
can and  unconstitutional.  Yet,  when  Alexander  the 
Third  resolved  to  Russianize  his  outlying  provinces, 
and  decreed  that  none  but  the  Russian  language  should, 
henceforth,  be  used  in  public  schools,  and  that  these 
provinces  should  be  governed  by  the  same  laws  as  the 
rest  of  the  Empire,  a  wail  of  vituperation  went  up 
from  the  English  speaking  Press  on  either  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  A  truly  enlightened  policy  was  denounced 
as  mediaeval  persecution,  and  anathemas  were  hurled 
at  the  perpetrator  of  retrograde  barbarisms. 

An  "Ostee  Junker,"  Samson  Ilimmelstierna  by  name, 
has  recently  written  a  voluminous  work  on  Russia 
from  the  exclusive  point  of  view  of  an  "  Ostee  Jun- 
ker," that  is,  a  Roman  Catholic  member  of  the  Ger- 


ALEXANDER    III. CONSOLIDATION.  243 

man  nobility  of  the  Ostee  or  Baltic  provinces,  whose 
reign  of  tyranny  and  oppression  over  the  peasantry  of 
these  countries  has  ceased  since  their  annexation  with 
Russia,  during  the  last  century.  The  Macmillans  have 
published  a  mutilated  translation,  by  J.  Morrison,  of 
this  work,  with  a  long  introduction  and  copious  notes 
by  Yolkhovsky,  an  adept  of  the  school  of  "Stepniak." 
Neither  the  translator  nor  the  editor  seems  to  have 
much  respect  for,  nor  sympathy  with  the  author,  be- 
yond that  inspired  by  the  bond  of  a  common  enmity 
against  Russia ;  and  the  title,  "Russia  under  Alexan- 
der III"  is  a  misnomer,  for  the  book  deals  chiefly  with 
what  can  be  alleged  against  Russia  prior  to  1881,  year 
of  the  present  Czar's  accession  to  the  throne. 

For  Mr.  Samson,  "the  whole  Russian  people  are 
nothing  else  than  a  horde  of  barbarians,"  whose  "his- 
toric mission  has  been  to  crush  out  all  Western  cul- 
ture." Fas  est  ab  hoste  doceri — and  a  few  passages 
gleaned  from  so  unimpeachable  a  document  as  the 
work  of  this  Russophobist,  will  throw  some  light  on 
the  condition  of  Finland,  in  the  past,  and  since  her 
annexation  with  Russia,  (1808)  and  also,  by  analogy,  on 
that  of  the  Baltic  Provinces,  if  we,  substitute  the 
words  "Swedish  nobility" — for  "  Ostee  Junkers." 
For,  in  Esthuania,  Livonia,  and  Courlaiid,  as  in  Fin- 
land and  Poland,  the  welfare  and  interests  of  the 
peasant  masses  had  been,  for  centuries,  sacrificed  to 
those  of  the  aristocracy. 

During  the  reign  of  Charles  IX  of  Sweden,  who  had 
captured  Moscow  and  Novgorod,  chiefly  with  the  aid 
of  his  Finnish  troops  (1617)  we  read  :  "that  it  was  only 
"then,  that  the  real  period  of  suffering  commenced  for 


244  SLAV   AND   MOSLEM. 

"  the  not  only  neglected,  but  actually  misused  and 
"  maltreated  Step  brother." 

"On  the  abdication  of  Queen  Christina,  Finland  was 
"  a  bundle  of  little  principalities ;  two-thirds  of  the 
"  country  and  one-third  of  the  revenue  had  been  given 
"  away  to  noblemen  living  in  Sweden,  who  were  for 
"  the  most  part  foreigners.  Finland  became  the  plun- 
"  der  ground  of  the  Swedish  aristocracy,  who  were 
"granted  oppressive  privileges — Church  patronage, 
"judicial  and  political  powers  &c."  (Russia  under 
Alexander  III,  p.  112.) 

Later  on,  in  1658,  we  find :  "  That  Finland  was 
"  again  exploited  by  greedy  and  corruptible  Swedish 
"  judges  and  officials."  (Ibid,  p.  114.)  Thirty  years 
later,  "  a  total  suppression  of  the  Finnish  language 
was  aimed  at,"  while  "  the  constant  miseries  of  wars 
"  were  obviously  intensified  by  the  total  neglect  and 
"  abandonment  of  Finland  by  Sweden."  (P.  116.) 

After  the  peace  of  Nystadt,  1721,  "  the  exceeding- 
"  ly  thoughtless  and  wild  rule  of  the  nobility,  dis- 
"  graced  by  the  constant  party  hatred  of  the  Hats  and 
"  Caps,"  contributed  towards  estranging  "  the  hearts 
"  of  the  Finns."  (P.  118.)  And  subsequently  to  the 
treaty  of  Abo,  between  Russia  and  Sweden,  1742, 
"  instead  of  allaying  the  increased  discontent  in  Fin- 
"  land,  by  refraining  from  acts  of  injustice,  the  Swe- 
"  dish  nobility  preferred  to  introduce  a  regular  reign 
"  of  terror,  by  making  use  of  a  severe  press  gang  sys- 
"  tern,  and  keeping  a  strict  watch  over  all  mal- 
"  contents,  who  were  speedily  brought  to  trial  and 
"  executed." 

Such  was  the  hapless   condition   of   Finland  under 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  245- 

Swedish  rule,  if  we  may  rely  on  statements  made  in 
"  Russia,  under  Alexander  III." 

Regarding  the  condition  of  Finland  since  her  annex- 
ation with  Russia,  we  read' in  the  same  work,  p.  296, 
that  "  whereas,  during  a  long  period  of  the  Swedish 
"  rule,  trade  and  industry  had  been  artificially  kept 
"  down,  in  Finland,  in  1851  it  possessed  148  manu- 
"  factures,  with  a  produce  of  about  five  million  Fin- 
"  nish  marks,  and  in  1876,  this  figure  reached  the  fig- 
"  ure  of  60  millions.  In  1825,  Finland  possessed  250 
"  ships,  trading  with  foreign  parts ;  in  1882,  the  mer- 
"  can  tile  navy  comprised  1980  vessels,  among  them 
"  152  steamers." 

"  In  1810,  the  State  revenue  amounted  to  6,700,000 
"  marks ;  in  1882,  it  reached  the  impressive  total  of 
"  36,320,714." 

In  view  of  these  facts  and  figures,  let  us  judge  for 
ourselves,  if  these  Provinces  (for  as  I  remarked  ex 
uno  omneSj)  have  advanced  or  retrograded  since  their 
annexation  with  Russia,  and  whether  the  further  Rus- 
sianizing of  these  countries  should  be  deprecated  as  a 
calamity,  and  branded  as  barbaric  persecution,  "  noth- 
"  ing  but  the  fanatical  degradation  of  culture  to  the 
"  lowest  depth  of  barbarism,"  (p.  131,)  unless  some 
"  unforseen  calamity  overtake  their  giant  oppressor, 
"  for  his  body  is  corrupt  and  covered  with  sores." 
Sic  Samson  Himmelstierna,  p.  132,  Ibid. 

The  remarkable  progress  made  by  these  Provinces 
since  their  annexation  with  Russia,  finds  its  counter- 
part in  the  annals  of  Poland,  since  her  final  dismem- 
berment, and  particularly  during  the  last  decade.  In 
proof  of  what  I  allege,  I  transcribe  a  passage  from  the 


246  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

work  of  Robert  Mackenzie,  who  can  hardly  be  accused 
of  Russophil  tendencies.  "  By  three  gigantic  acts  of 
"  spoliation,  the  guilt  and  the  gains  of  which  were 
"  shared  with  Austria  and  Prussia,  Poland  was  effaced 
"  from  the  map  of  Europe.  Russia  has  justly  been 
"  blamed  for  the  severities  which  she  inflicted  on  Po- 
"  land.  In  judging  of  the  relations  of  the  two  coun- 
"  tries,  it  should,  however,  be  remembered,  first  that 
"  for  six  centuries  there  had  been  continual  war  be- 
"  tween  Poland  and  Russia  ;  that  Poland  was  habitu- 
"  ally  the  aggressor ;  that,  being  the  stronger,  she 
"  inflicted  terrible  evils  upon  Russia,  and  sought  by 
"  diplomacy,  as  well  as  by  war,  to  strangle  the  nation- 
"  al  life  of  her  rival.  When  Russia,  now  grown 
"  strong,  shared  in  the  final  assault  upon  Poland,  she 
"  was  not  attacking  a  harmless  neighbor,  she  wa& 
"  avenging  centuries  of  cruel  wrong.  Second,  at  the 
"  time  of  the  dismemberment,  the  Poles  were  '  in  the 
"  lowest  state  of  degradation — ignorant,  indolent,  poor, 
"  drunken,  improvident.'  The  recent  reports  of  the 
"  English  consuls,  represent  the  condition  of  Poland 
"  as  most  satisfactory.  There  '  is  a  very  remarkable 
"  progress  in  commerce,  agriculture  and  manufacture/ 
"  '  The  country  is  becoming  rich  and  prosperous  be- 
"  yond  all  expectation."  (See  the  "  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury," by  Robert  Mackenzie,  page  379.) 

I  do  not  ignore  the  fact  that  when  these  countries, 
Finland  in  particular,  were  annexed,  certain  conces- 
sions were  made  to  the  inhabitants  regarding  the  pre- 
servation of  their  local  usages  and  customs.  But  may 
it  not  happen  in  the  course  of  a  hundred  years,  that 
a  government  finds  it  advisable,  nay,  imperative,  to 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  247 

change  its  policy  regarding  the  administration  of  an- 
nexed provinces  ? 

Does  England  govern  India  to-day  as  she  did  in 
1793  ?  Would  there,  indeed,  be  a  British  Indian  Em- 
pire, if  she  had  not  repeatedly  "  foreclosed  the  mort- 
gage," to  use  Mr.  Trevelyan's  expression  in  describing 
the  process  of  annexing  native  principalities,  whose 
relative  or  absolute  independence  had  been  guaran- 
teed at  the  outset. 

Majestically  unmindful  of  the  howls  of  ignorance 
and  malevolence,  Alexander  the  Third  pursued  the 
even  tenor  of  his  way,  though  the  vociferations  of  his 
slanderers  became  louder,  when,  in  conjunction  with 
the  policy  of  homogenizing,  the  policy  of  extirpation 
only  a  correlative  was  carried  out  by  the  revival  of 
many  of  the  anti-S emetic  laws,  framed  by  Igna- 
tieff  in  1881,  but  which  had  practically  remained  in 
abeyance. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Russian  Jew,  un- 
like his  congeners  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  is  pre- 
eminently subversive  and  refractory  to  all  national 
amalgamation.  It  is  among  them  that  the  bacillus  of 
nihilism  was  fostered,  and  their  unrestricted  admission 
to  seats  of  learning  and  rural  districts,  was  invariably 
followed  by  a  crop  of  discontent  and  rebellion.  Scat- 
tered among  a  rural  population,  they  remain  essentially 
non-productive.  When  they  do  happen  to  own  land 
they  almost  invariably  sell  it,  or  rent  it  to  Christian 
farmers.  Like  the  miseltoe  and  other  parasites,  they 
have  no  roots  in  the  soil,  but  they  draw  their  suste- 
nance from  the  poor  delvers  of  the  earth,  who  them- 
selves extract  but  a  scant  subsistence  therefrom.  As 


248  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

publicans  and  usurers,  they  prey  upon  the  populations 
of  rural  districts.  At  their  low  taverns  and  saloons 
the  poor  peasants  are  often  enticed  into  drinking 
away  the  last  grain  of  their  hardly  raised  crop,  even 
before  it  is  harvested.  And  when  the  crop  is  pledged 
in  advance,  gaunt  famine  soon  stares  them  in  the 
face.  Bread  must  he  had,  and  the  Jew  is  at  hand  to 
lend  money  at  most  extortionate  rates,  on  the  stock 
and  land,  which  soon  pass  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
peasants,  who  become  the  hapless  wage  workers  of 
the  Hebrew.  The  latter  even  holds  a  mortgage  on 
the  very  sinews  and  time  of  his  victims,  who  are  thus 
reduced  to  a  kind  of  serfdom  far  more  appalling  than 
that  from  which  they  were  emancipated. 

As  a  striking  commentary  on  what  I  have  just  ad- 
vanced, I  transcribe  the  following  passages  that  were 
not  written  for  pot-boiling  or  party  interests,  but  are 
spontaneous  observations  made  by  distinguished  travel- 
ers at  different  extremities  of  the  globe — in  California 
and  in  Eussia,  in  18YT  and  in  1892. 

The  first  of  these  passages  is  from  R.  J.  Stoddard's 
"  Across  Russia,"  page  236,  Scribner. 

"If  those  philanthropists,  who  in  America  and  Eng- 
"  land  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  ways  and  habits 
"  of  Jews  in  such  countries  as  Russia  and  Poland, 
"  could  spend  a  few  days  among  them,  and  see  how 
'•  they  live,  and  what  sort  of  people  they  are,  their 
"  views  regarding  them  might  be  changed.  * 
"  As  a  people,  they  are  always  shrewd,  money  getting, 
"  lying  and  unclean,  and  hostile  to  the  moral  and 
"  physical  welfare  of  the  places  where  they  dwell.  A 
"  peculiar  people,^never  assimilating  with  other  nations, 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  24:9 

"  though  dwelling  among  them,  they  drain,  by  indi- 
"  vidual  extortion  and  cheating,  the  resources  of  those 
"  among  whom  they  dwell,  contribute  little  to  the 
"  general  wealth,  and  nothing  to  the  public  happiness. 
•"  They  evade  the  laws  which  are  designed  to  hinder 
"  their  evil  practices,  and  make  themselves  so  odious 
"  to  the  communities  which  they  invade  that  their 
•"  toleration  is  only  a  question  of  time." 

The  second  of  these  two  passages  is  from  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson's  "  Silverado  Squatters,"  p.  78,  Rob- 
erts Brothers. 

The  Jew  store-keepers  "  in  California,  profiting  at 
"  once,  by  the  needs  and  habits  of  the  people,  have 
"  made  themselves,  in  too  many  cases,  the  tyrants  of 
"  the  rural  population.  Credit  is  offered,  is  pressed 
"  on  the  new  comer,  and  when,  once,  he  is  beyond  his 
"  depth,  the  tune  changes,  and  he  is,  from  henceforth, 
*•  a  white  slave.  I  believe,  even  from  the  little  I  saw, 
"  that  Kelmar,  if  he  wished  to  put  on  the  screw,  could 
"  send  half  the  farmers  packing  within  a  radius  of 
"  seven  or  eight  miles  round  Calistoga.  These  are 
•"  continually  paying  him,  but  are  never  allowed  to  get 
"  out  of  debt.  He  palms  dull  goods  upon  them,  for 
•"  they  dare  not  refuse  to  buy,  etc." 

It  is  an  unfortunate  fact  that  the  only  thing  that 
prevents  people  of  small  means  from  borrowing  is  the 
want  oi  security.  Now  the  farmer  always  has  some- 
thing to  pledge,  his  land,  or  at  any  rate,  his  stock  and 
implements  ;  and,  as  long  as  any  of  these  are  still  in 
his  possession,  the  usurer  dogs  his  footsteps,  as  the 
leech  and  the  horsefly  pursue  their  victims.  When  we 
to  this  fact  a  little  knowledge  of  the  character  of 


250  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

the  Russian  peasant,  who  is  the  most  reckless  and  im- 
provident of  borrowers,  can  we  wonder  any  longer, 
that  the  Czar,  whom  every  moujik  calls  his  "  Little 
Father,"  should  seek  to  protect  these  poor  simple 
tillers  of  the  soil  from  the  harpies  who  prey  upon  the 
vitals  of  the  country  ?  I  use  the  word  vitals  advis- 
edly, for  as  I  have  said  elsewhere,  the  heart  of  Kussia 
throbs  in  every  rural  commune.  There,  are  found  the 
true  arteries  of  the  nation,  its  latent  strength,  and  the 
pledge  of  its  longevity  and  unlimited  expansion. 
When  Napoleon  I,  who  called  England  a  "  nation  of 
shop-keepers,"  sneeringly  declared,  "  that  Kussia  was 
nothing  but  a  nation  of  peasants,"  he  forgot  that  no 
people  can  be  permanently  great  and  powerful  with- 
out a  strong  rural  population.  Carthage,  Phoenicia 
and  Genoa  were  commercial  queens  in  their  day,  but 
they  lacked  this  element  of  stability,  and  their  reign 
was  but  short-lived.  So,  among  all  nations,  the  deca- 
dence of  agricultural  pursuits  and  national  decadence 
are  found  to  be  synchronous. 

In  interdicting  white  men  from  settling  on  the 
Indian  Reservations,  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  was  evidently  actuated  by  a  laudable  desire  to 
protect  these  wards  of  the  nation  from  being  imposed 
upon  and  over-reached  by  sharpers  of  every  descrip- 
tion. And,  no  one  ever  thought  of  stigmatizing  this 
policy  as  tyrannical ;  not  even  when  troops  were  under 
orders  from  Washington  to  eject,  by  force,  an  enter- 
prising railroad  man  of  the  name  of  Ross,  who  insisted 
on  carrying  his  works  through  one  of  these  reserva- 
tions. (New  York  Herald,  April,  1893.)  Why  then 
should  the  policy  of  Alexander  the  Third,  in  exclud- 


ALEXANDER     III CONSOLIDATION.  251 

ing  the  Jews  from  rural  districts  raise  such  a  hue  and 
cry  ? 

The  Press  has  plied  us  with  the  verbiage  of  horrent 
large  type  and  italicised  exclamations  on  the  subject, 
till  we  have  been  almost  led  to  believe  that  the  Jews 
were  compressed  into  a  space,  about  as  limited,  as  the 
"  Black  Hole,"  of  Calcutta  ;  and,  that  in  consequence 
of  this  privation  of  light  and  oxygen,  they  were  dying 
off  like  sheep  in  a  murrain. 

'Now  the  true  facts  of  the  case  are,  that  the  Jews 
compose  about  one  sixteenth  of  the  Russian  popula- 
tion, say  about  six  millions  : — the  "  Jewish  Pale,"  or 
that  portion  of  the  Empire  in  which  they  may  legally 
dwell,  is  on  the  south-west  of  Russia,  the  side  by  which 
they  first  entered,  and  it  comprises  the  provinces  of 
Poland,  Bessarabia,  Vilna,  Nirebsk,  Volhynia,  Grodno, 
Ekaterinoslaf,  Taurica,  Kershow,  Tchernigof,  Kownor 
etc.  Now,  surely  six  or  seven  million  Hebrews  can 
find  breathing  space  and  elbow  room,  in  a  territory  of 
over  400,000  square  miles  ?  Their  not  being  allowed 
to  live  outside  towns  and  townlets,  at  the  present  mo- 
ment, should  scarcely  be  considered  a  great  hardship, 
seeing  that  they  have  no  use  for  the  soil,  and  eschew 
all  manner  of  agricultural  pursuits. 

The  following  statistics  should  tend  to  allay  all  fears 
as  to  the  Jews  being  literally  exterminated  in 
Russia  : — 

JEWS.  ALL  OTHERS. 

1867-71 61,420 2,132,000 

1872-76 71,720 3,207,000 

1877-81 76,180 3,200,200 

1882-86 90,040....  ....3,815,800 


252  SLAV   AND   MOSLEM. 

At  this  ratio  the  Jews  could  double  their  number 
in  thirty  years,  whereas  it  would  take  the  Russians 
ninety  years  to  double  theirs.  Surely,  a  condition  of 
things  as  alarming  as  that  which  suggested  to  the 
Pharoahs  the  expediency  of  suppressing  every  male 
child  of  the  Hebrews.  If  Russian  Jews  would  lay 
aside  their  clannishness,  and  adopt  the  Russian  lan- 
guage and  customs  as  they  do  those  of  the  Americans 
in  the  United  States ;  if  they  would  do  a  little  less 
smuggling  and  a  little  more  farming,  they  would  be 
treated  on  the  same  footing  as  other  Russian  subjects 
who  are  of  different  race  and  creed  from  the  Slavs, 
but  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  their  treatment. 
Nor  would  Russian  Jews  need  to  come  all  the  way  to 
New  Jersey  to  have  farms  allotted  them  by  the  Hirch 
fund,  for  the  Russian  Government  would  be  only  too 
happy  to  found  agricultural  colonies  for  them  in  that 
vast  empire,  where  there  is  land  enough  and  to  spare. 
Moreover,  it  is  noteworthy  that  Hebrews  who  are  law 
abiding,  and  exercising  some  legitimate  business,  are, 
as  a  rule,  unmolested  in  Russia,  even  in  cities  where 
they  have  not  legally  the  right  to  dwell.  In  St. 
Petersburg,  strange  to  say,  many  of  the  lawyers  and 
most  of  the  merchants  are  Jews,  and  they  have  re- 
cently erected  in  the  heart  of  the  metropolis  a  mag- 
nificent synagogue  of  Moorish  architecture,  which  is 
a  standing  protest  against  the  outcry  of  religious  per- 
secution. 

In  the  abstract,  it  does  seem  strange  that  subjects  of 
a  certain  class  should  not  have  the  right  to  dwell  in  any 
part  of  the  empire,  they  may  choose ;  but  circum- 
stances alter  cases,  and  the  question  must  be  examined 


ALEXANDER    III. CONSOLIDATION.  253 

in  the  concrete,  and  not  in  the  abstract  only.  Jews 
have  never  been  really  incorporated  with  the  Russian 
nation.  In  the  days  of  serfdom  they  did  not  fall 
under  the  law  of  Boris  Godonof,  which  applied  to 
Slavs  only,  and  they  are  always  free  to  emigrate  to 
any  country  and  become  naturalized  citizens  thereof, 
whereas  the  Russian  Slav  is  always  a  Russian  subject. 
The  position  of  the  Jews  in  Russia  though  more  advan- 
tageous in  many  respects,  is,  in  fact,  not  unlike  that  of 
the  Chinese  in  the  United  States,  though  I  never 
heard  of  a  Chinaman  being  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
America.  Nor  have  the  Jews  ever  been  ejected  by 
law,  and  en  masse,  from  the  land  of  their  adoption ; 
they  have  simply  been  subjected,  as  semi  aliens,  to  cer- 
tain restrictions,  to  which  poor  John  Chinaman  would, 
gratefully  and  cheerfully  have  subscribed,  if  any 
choice  had  been  left  him. 

It  will  not  be  inapposite  to  transcribe  here  the 
following  passage  from  the  New  York  Herald,  re- 
garding Russian  persecution  of  the  Jews,  into  which 
Congress  had  requested  the  Secretary  of  State  to 
inquire : 

RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS. 

THE    HEBREWS    THEMSELVES     DENY    THE     STORIES   OF 
PERSECUTION. 

(New  York  Herald.) 

WASHINGTON,  Oct.  16,  1890. — Secretary  Elaine  has  been 
informed  by  the  Minister  of  the  United  States  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, in  regard  to  the  various  reports  of  the  alleged  persecu- 
tion by  the  Russian  government  of  the  Hebrews  living  in 
that  country  ;  that  upon  a  thorough  investigation,  it  is  a 
source  of  special  gratification  to  be  able  to  present  not  only 


254  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

the  denial  of  the  Russian  government,  but  of  the  Hebrews 
themselves,  and  confirmatory  testimony  that  these  injurious 
allegations  are  baseless. 

He  goes  on  to  say,  that  it  appears  that  a  statement  re- 
cently appeared  in  the  London  Times,  stating  that,  despite 
the  disavowal  of  the  Russian  government,  some  five  or  six 
hundred  Hebrew  families  residing  at  Odessa  had  been  sum- 
marily notified  that  they  must  immediately  abandon  their 
homes,  and,  in  fact,  had  already  been  expelled.  Soon  after 
this  publication  appeared,  the  British  Embassy  at  St.  Peters- 
burg called  upon  the  British  Consul  at  Odessa  to  make  a 
full  investigation  of  the  same.  The  Consul  reports  that  the 
same  is  not  only  denied  by  the  Government,  but  by  the 
Hebrews  themselves,  even  more  emphatically  by  the  latter. 
No  such  order  was  issued,  and  no  movement  of  the  kind 
attempted. 

The  report  evidently  originated  from  the  fact  that  some 
Hebrew  families  had  voluntarily,  on  their  own  part,  emi- 
grated, or  were  preparing  to  do  so.  The  Rabbis  and  highest 
authorities  explained  this  emigration  as  due  to  the  fact  that 
in  the  Hebrew  families  there  were  many  youths,  and  as  the 
number  admitted  to  the  universities  was  limited,  they  re- 
moved to  other  countries  to  secure  the  opportunty  of  higher 
education,  and  that  there  was  no  ground  for  the  charges 
against  the  Government. 

(New  York  Herald,  1893.) 

A  dispatch  from  St.  Petersburg,  May  8,  1893,  announces 
that  the  Russian  government  proposes  to  convene  a  com- 
mission of  Rabbis  next  September,  to  take  the  whole 
Hebrew  question  into  consideration,  and  assist  in  bringing 
it  to  a  settlement. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Alexander  the  Third  is  a 
genuine  mujik  in  his  personal  antipathy  for  the  Jew- 
ish race.  But  Russia  is  certainly  not  the  only  country 
where  Jews  are  regarded  with  misgiving  and  aver- 
sion. 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  255 

The  anti-Semite  party  is  strong  in  France,  and  still 
more  so  in  Germany.  In  the  latter  country  it  is  al- 
leged that  the  Renter  Telegram  Company  and  the 
Wolff  News  Bureau  are  combined  to  promote  the  con- 
trol of  the  world  by  the  Jews.  Money  and  the  press 
are  trumps  to-day,  and  it  cannot  be  gainsaid  that 
both  these  cards  are  in  their  hands  all  over  the  world. 
In  the  New  York  World,  September  26th,  1893,  we 
read  that  in  Berlin  the  Anti-Semite  party  "have  f  ormu- 
"  lated  a  parliamentary  programme,  that  proposes  to 
"  forbid  Hebrew  immigration,  to  prohibit  Hebrews 
"  from  owning  land  or  taking  mortgages  on  it,  to  ex- 
•'  port  all  Hebrews  not  natives,  and  to  shut  Hebrews 
"  out  of  the  learned  and  military  professions." 

This  is  not  the  programme  of  an  autocratic  govern- 
ment, but  of  liberal  members  of  the  German  Reich- 
stag. 

In  free  England  the  Test  and  Corporation  Act, 
which  in  1828,  restored  the  rights  of  citizenship  to 
all  dissenters  from  the  Anglican  Church,  imposed 
new  disabilities  on  the  Jews.  "By  it,"  says  Sir  Ers- 

»/  v 

kine  May,  "a  Jew  could  not  hold  any  office,  civil, 
"  military  or  corporate.  He  could  not  follow  the  law 
"  as  a  barrister,  or  attorney's  clerk  ;  he  could  not  be  a 
"  schoolmaster  or  an  usher  of  a  school.  He  could  not 
"  sit  as  a  member  of  either  House  of  Parliament,  nor 
"  even  exercise  the  elector's  franchise  if  called  upon 
"  to  take  the  elector's  oath." 

In  1852,  Mr.  Solomons,  more  pugnacious  than  Baron 
Lionel  Rothschild,  insisted  on  taking  his  seat  in  Par- 
liament when  he  was  elected  for  Greenwich.  He  was 
ousted  by  the  sergeant-at-arms,  and  furnished  a  test 


256  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

case  to  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  that  decided  against 
the  Jew  candidate. 

It  was  not  till  1858,  after  much  bickering  and  com- 
promising, that  the  Jews  were  finally  made  eligible  to 
all  public  offices  without  being  required  to  subscribe 
to  the  obnoxious  shiboleth,  "on  the  true  faith  of  a 
Christian," 

The  maintenance  of  religious  unity  may  also  be  con- 
sidered a  correlative  of  the  policy  of  homogenizing,  and 
has  given  rise  to  many  accusations  of  persecution 
against  Alexander  the  Third. 

We  have  already  seen  that,  historically  and  politically, 
Russia  has  developed  in  conditions  that  were  in  nowise 
analogous  to  those  of  other  European  nations.  In 
870  the  Greek  Emperors  and  the  clergy  of  Constan- 
tinople alike  appealed  to  and  recognized  the  authority 
of  the  Pontiff  of  Rome,  when  Pope  Nicholas  and  the 
Eighth  General  Council  deposed  Photius,  who  had 
usurped  the  place  of  the  venerable  patriarch  Ignatius. 
But  eight  years  later  the  ambitious  Photius,  abetted 
by  a  new  Emperor,  again  assumed  the  patriarchal  dig- 
nity, shook  off  his  allegiance  to  Rome,  and  added 
heresy  to  schism  by  leaving  out  a  word  from  the 
Credo.  Instead  of  "qui  ex  Patre  Filioque  procedit" 
the  Greek  Church  henceforth  read,  "QuiexPatrepro- 
cedit"  The  rupture  with  Rome  was  not,  however, 
consummated  till  1053  by  the  Patriarch  Michel  Ceru- 
larius,  who  was  himself  deposed  and  exiled  by  the 
Emperor  Isaac  Commene. 

It  was  in  these  unfortunate  circumstances,  that 
Russia's  rulers  received  the  Christian  religion  from 
Constantinople.  Had  she  been  christianized  a  few 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  257 

years  sooner,  her  history  would  probably  have  been 
quite  different,  and  more  like  that  of  the  rest  of 
Europe.  Henceforth,  and  more  especially  after  her 
subjugation  by  the  Tartars,'  Russia  became  an  exile — 
a  pariah,  in  fact,  politically,  socially  and  religiously 
speaking,  to  the  rest  of  Europe.  No  Peter  the  Her- 
mit arose  to  preach  a  Crusade  on  her  behalf,  no  Coeur 
de  Lion,  no  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  crossed  himself  to 
deliver  her  from  the  infidel  Turk.  No  Bernard  of 
Clairvaux,  no  Thomas  Aquinas,  no  Pic  de  la  Miran- 
dole,  no  Albertus  Magnus,  lent  lustre  to  her  annals  in 
these  Dark  Ages.  "While  the  Realists  and  Nominal- 
ists of  the  Germanic  Universities  were  waging  hot 
warfare  over  split  hairs,  and  consigning  each  other  to 
unpleasant  nether  regions,  because  they  could  not 
agree,  as  to  whether  ivory  from  the  elephant's  tusk 
was  real  ivory,  or  only  nominal  ivory.  Russia  was 
eking  out  a  hard  and  precarious  existence  from  day  to 
day,  while  each  to-morrow  threatened  to  be  the  last  of 
her  national  existence. 

There  was  none,  in  their  hour  of  abasement,  and 
isolation,  to  whom  the  people  of  Russia  could  look, 
but  to  their  clergy.  For  their  Princes  had  fallen  into 
moral  as  well  as  political  servitude  to  their  conquerors. 
It  was  the  Greek  clergy,  who  kept  alive  the  flickering 
spark  of  patriotism  in  Prince  and  people,  and  fanned 
the  dying  embers  of  national  self-respect — who  used 
their  influence,  alike,  with  Tartar  dominator  and  vas- 
sal prince,  to  render  the  condition  of  the  people  more 
endurable.  It  was  the  clergy  who  roused  the  slumber- 
ing energies  of  Prince  and  people,  to  avail  themselves 
of  a  favorable  moment,  and  shake  off  the  Tartar  yoke. 
17 


258  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

No  wonder,  then,  as  I  remarked  elsewhere,  that 
indissoluble  bonds  of  union  were  established  between 
the  nation  and  the  National  Church — that  "Ortho- 
doxy" is,  for  every  Russian,  another  name  for  Hearth 
and  Fatherland. 

For  some  unknown  reason,  the  words  Greek  and 
Orthodox  are  always  used  to  designate  the  National 
Church  in  Russia,  though  it  is  neither  Greek  nor  Or- 
thodox. 

The  period  of  Tartar  domination  was  the  Golden 
Age  of  this  Church.  Her  clergy,  then,  were  by  no 
means  inferior,  as  the  times  went. 

When  the  Grand  Dukes  of  Moscow  assumed  control 
of  the  whole  country,  the  State  absorbed  the  Church, 
as  well  as  the  independent  Republics  and  the  minor 
principalities.  The  union  and  identity  of  Church  and 
State  thus  became  so  close,  that  it  was  difficult,  hence- 
forth, to  separate  them.  A  renegade  from  the  National 
Church  was  regarded  as  a  traitor  to  his  flag  and  his 
country,  and  treated  as  such. 

I  do  not  wish  to  dilate  on  the  evil  consequences 
which  the  Schism  of  Photius  entailed  on  Russia,  and 
on  the  Eastern  Church  in  general.  I  only  note  the. 
fact  of  the  peculiar  identity  that  exists,  in  Russia,  be- 
tween Church  and  State.  In  England,  the  conditions 
were  never  the  same  after  Henry  VIII  shook  off  the 
supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  assumed  the  title  of 
Supreme  Head  of  the  Anglican  Church. 

Though  much  has  been  written  about  religious  in- 
tolerance in  Russia,  it  is  a  curious  fact,  that  Religious 
Tests,  which  were  not  finally  abolished  in  Britain  till 
1858,  have  never  been  known  in  Russia.  A  man's 


ALEXANDER    III. CONSOLIDATION.  259 

religions  opinions  are  no  bar  sinister  to  his  holding 
office  in  State  and  Army.  The  highest  military  and 
civil  positions  have  been,  and  are  still,  held  by  Luthe- 
rans, Anglicans,  Roman  .  Catholics,  Mahomedans, 
Loris  Melikoff,  Count  Nesselrode,  Alikhanoff,  are  a 
few  instances  of  this  religious  toleration.  The  present 
Prefect  of  St.  Petersburg,  is  a  Lutheran,  and  I  could 
cite  many  other  examples. 

The  only  person  in  the  Empire  who  is  subjected  to 
a  Religious  Test  on  entering  into  office,  is  the  Czar  of 
all  the  Russias.  The  most  important  part  of  the  cere- 
mony of  Coronation,  is  the  Public  Profession  of  Faith 
that  the  Czar  makes  before  he  is  annointed. 

It  is  as  binding  on  the  Russian  Sovereign  to  main- 
tain the  integrity  of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  as 
it  is  on  other  rulers,  to  safeguard  the  Constitutions  of 
their  respective  countries — as  it  is  on  the  Popes  to 
maintain  their  right  to  the  temporal  estates  bestowed 
on  them  by  Charlemagne. 

Independently  of  these  considerations,  there  are 
others  that  make  the  repression  of  the  religious  sects 
that  swarm  in  Russia  just  now,  a  matter  of  grave  im- 
port for  the  national  welfare.  To  explain  what  I  wish 
to  convey,  I  quote  the  following  passage  from  "E.  B. 
Lanin,"  a  prejudiced  writer,  but  one  who  is  certainly 
well  informed  on  Russian  subjects.  (Contemporary 
Review,  Jan.  T,  1893.) 

"  Every  Russian  may  be  said  to  bear  within  him, 
"  the  leaven  of  religious  mania.  Hundreds  of  Christs 
"  and  Virgins  are  being  continually  born  in  Russia, 
"  and  find  thousands  of  worshippers  and  disciples. 
"  Mystic  sects  are  continually  being  formed  and  dis- 


260  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

"  solved  like  cloud  pictures,  throughout  the  length  and 
"  breadth  of  the  land,  and  no  more  striking  instance 
"  can  be  given  of  the  power  and  extent  of  that  mystic 
"  element  over  the  Eussian  mind,  than  the  recent  re_ 
"  markable  transformation  of  the  most  rationalistic  of 
"  Russian  Sects,  (Stundism,)  which  has  rapidly  drifted 
"  from  cold  rationalism  into  the  vortex  of  ecstacy,  ex- 
"  altation  and  madness,  which  distinguish  the  Dancers 
"  of  Toranto."  What  E.  B.  Lanin  says  of  Stundists, 
is  equally  true  of  Rasconliks.  Is  it  not,  indeed,  the 
common  fate  of  religious  sects,  all  over  the  world,  to 
drift  away  completely  from  the  lines  on  which  they 
were  originally  formed  ? 

Until  the  seventeenth  century,  religious  sects  were 
unknown  in  Russia.  The  political  and  civil  conditions 
were  such,  that  the  "  leaven  of  religious  mania,"  to 
which  E.  B.  Lanin  refers,  did  not  get  a  chance  to  fer- 
ment. 

The  insignificant  liturgical  reforms  instituted  by 
Nikon,  the  Metropolitan  of  Moscow,  during  the  reign 
of  Peter  the  Great,  were  the  the  signal  for  the  protes- 
tations of  the  Rascols,  or  the  old  believers,  who  re- 
garded, as  blasphemous,  any  change  made  in  the  an- 
cient customs  by  priest  or  Caesar. 

The  Rascols  were  the  Non-Conformists  and  Puritans 
of  Russia.  Not  only  did  they  split  up  into  a  multi- 
tude of  sects,  like  the  latter  in  England,  but  the  spirit 
of  mysticism  and  dissent,  so  long  latent,  became  ram- 
pant. To-day,  it  is  computed,  that  there  are  about 
thirteen  million  sectarians  in  Russia,  who  have  revived 
the  teachings  of  many  of  the  heresies  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  particularly  the  communistic  theories.  Circon- 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  261 

cillians,  Albigenses,  Yandois,  Flagellants,  etc.,  etc., 
all  find  imitators  and  caricaturists  among  the  inujiks. 

The  latter  are  so  possessed  with  Henry  George's 
theory  concerning  land,  that  any  one  who  preaches 
this  to  them  as  the  fundamental  article  of  religious 
creed,  can  graft  thereon,  all  kinds  of  extravagances 
and  recruit  followers. 

There  are,  no  doubt,  honest,  earnest  men  like  Tols- 
toi, to  be  found  among  dissenters  from  the  National 
Church.  But  many  of  these  sects,  unfortunately,  are 
addicted  to  obscene  and  cruel  rites,  common  to  fanatics 
in  all  ages  and  climes.  They  are  given  to  the  coarsest 
superstitions,  worship  the  devil,  denounce  all  author- 
ity, spiritual  or  temporal,  and  often  mutilate  and  kill 
themselves  and  others,  in  the  insanity  of  religious  ex- 
altation. When  such  as  these  are  punished,  a  hue  and 
cry  of  religious  persecution  is  raised  all  over  the 
world.  Because  these  fanatics  justify  their  immoral 
and  cruel  practices  by  the  Bible,  which  they  read 
assiduously,  evangelical,  and  Bible  Society  Christians 
denounce  Alexander  the  Third  as  Antichrist  and  the 
Arch  Persecutor  of  "  those  who  search  the  Scrip- 
tures." This  is  absolutely  false.  Neither  Leo  Tolstoi, 
nor  any  man  in  Russia  who  is  capable  of  forming 
religious  theories,  no  matter  how  extravagant,  is 
molested,  so  long  as  he  is  moral,  and  law-abiding,  and 
does  not  seek  to  propagate  practices  contrary  to  public 
order. 

When  a  man,  for  instance,  feels  persuaded  that  war 
is  unlawful,  and  that  no  one  should  be  a  soldier,  we 
say  that  he  has  a  perfect  right  to  his  opinion,  which  is 
probably  not  unfounded.  But  when  he  seeks  to  propa- 


262  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

gate  liis  opinions,  and  rouses  his  fellow-citizens  to  re- 
duce them  to  practice  in  a  country  that  is  compelled  to 
maintain  large  standing  armies,  and  has  a  severe  sys- 
tem of  military  conscription,  the  case  is  altered.  He 
becomes  a  teacher  and  abettor  of  sedition  and  revolt, 
amenable  to  the  laws  of  the  State,  that  would  not 
have  interfered  with  his  freedom  of  conscience,  but 
does,  most  emphatically,  coerce  his  freedom  of  .action 
when  it  is  subversive  of  public  order. 

Independently  of  the  streak  of  religious  mania  and 
anarchy  which  are  innate  in  the  Slavs,  human  nature, 
in  general,  is  always  apt  to  seek  escape  from  material 
evils  by  oblivion,  the  Lethe  of  the  ancients.  The 
moujik  drowns  the  horrors  of  a  Russian  winter  in  vodka 
and  seeks  surcease  from  the  drearv  monotony  of  his 
hard  life,  in  visions,  ecstacy  and  religious  excesses.  So 
long  as  these  pastimes  are  indulged  in,  in  private, 
there  is  no  danger  to  the  community.  But  we  all  know 
that  in  every  agglomeration  of  individuals  a  magnetic 
current  is  generated,  powerful  for  good  or  evil ;  and 
the  Russian  government  would  be  wanting  indeed,  if  it 
did  not  do  its  utmost  to  suppress  the  meetings  of  these 
wild  visionaries,  whose  religious  saturnalia  would  not 
be  tolerated  for  a  moment  by  Mr.  Comstock,  however 
protected  they  might  be,  in  theory,  by  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States.  "  Angel  Dancers  "  in 
New  Jersey  did  not  escape  police  coercion  and  in- 
carceration, recently. 

That  religious  thought  will  and  must  work  out 
various  channels  for  itself  in  Russia,  as  everywhere 
else,  is  as  certain  as  that  mountain  streams  will  over- 
leap their  banks,  and  find  new  beds,  as  they  hasten 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  263 

oceanwards.  But  it  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  govern- 
ment of  a  nation  of  grown  up  children  to  guide  and 
restrain  them  from  pernicious  excesses.  At  least,, 
until  they  have  reached  an .  age  when  they  are  capable 
of  reason,  discretion  and  moderation. 

No  man  is  allowed  in  any  civilized  country  to  doctor 
his  fellow-men  without  a  license.  Why,  then,  should 
any  uneducated,  cranky  peasant,  endowed  with  a  mes- 
meric faculty,  be  allowed  to  set  up  as  a  teacher  and 
prophet  of  his  equally  ignorant  brethren  \ 

That  the  Greek  clergy  has,  since  two  centuries,  some- 
what failed  in  its  mission,  and  retrograded,  is  an  unfor- 
tunate fact,  though  not  without  ample  palliation. 
Alexander  the  Third,  keenly  alive  to  all  that  concerns 
his  peasant  subjects,  has  been  strenuous  in  his  en- 
deavors to  educate  and  elevate  the  Orthodox  clergy, 
so  that  they  may  become  better  fitted  to  be  the  edu- 
cators of  the  people.  Melchior  de  Vogue  affirms, 
from  personal  observation,  that  in  many  parishes  of  the 
Empire  a  marked  improvement  is  noticeable. 

If  it  were  given  to  Leo  the  Thirteenth  and  Alexan-. 
der  the  Third  to  accomplish  the  important  work  of  re- 
uniting the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,  we  should,  ere 
many  years,  see  a  great  empire,  or  rather  a  Grand  Con- 
federation, which  would  be  without  a  parallel  in  the 
world's  history,  and  would  prove  a  precious  rampart 
on  the  east  of  Europe,  should  this  continent  be  again 
menaced  by  Mongolian  hordes,  as  in  the  days  of 
Gengis  Kahn  and  Tamerlane. 

"It  was  neither  the  French  nor  the  English  who  de- 
feated us  in  the  Crimean  War,"  said  a  Kussian  officer, 
"it  was  our  own  administration ;"  and  this  was  equally 


264  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

true  of  the  reverses  which  the  Russians  sustained  at 
Plewna. 

The  rapacity  and  venality  of  State  officials  has  al- 
ways been  a  subject  of  anxious  preoccupation  for  the 
Czars,  but  the  evil  is  so  inveterate  that  it  can  only  be 
extirpated  by  radical  measures,  which  would  be  pre- 
mature at  the  present  hour.  This  plague  spot  was  im- 
ported from  the  East,  and  borrowed  from  Constanti- 
nople. Among  Orientals,  bribery  is  a  very  venial  of- 
fence, if  an  offence  at  all.  Even  among  the  Romans, 
and  under  the  Feudal  System,  those  who  held  influen- 
tial positions  in  the  Senate,  or  at  Court,  received 
money,  or  were  paid  in  specie  by  their  inferiors,  to 
whom  they  extended  protection,  or  patronage.  But 
such  practices  can  no  longer  be  tolerated  by  the  re- 
fined conscience  of  modern  civilization.  If  they  do 
exist,  it  is  in  an  inverse  sense  generally.  It  is  the 
"  Sovereign  people,  "  who  are  now  bribed  by  those  who 
need  their  suffrages,  in  order  to  become  their  rulers. 

Venality  among  public  officials  was  so  flagrant  in 
the  time  of  Peter  the  Great,  that  the  irate  Czar  once 
swore  that  "  he  would  hang  every  officer,  who  stole  so 
much  as  a  rope.  "•  —  "Then  you  will  have  to  hang  us 
"  all,  said  his  confidential  minister,  for  we  all  steal, 
"  the  only  difference  lies  in  the  quantity  stolen,  and  in 
i;  the  manner  of  stealing. " 

Neither  Peter,  nor  his  successors  seem  to  have  suc- 
ceeded in  extirpating  the  evil ;  for,  the  Czar  Nicholas 
declared,  with  too  much  truth,  unfortunately,  that  "  he 
was  the  only  honest  official  in  the  empire.  " 

In  1880-1881,  under  the  administration  of  Loris 
Melikoff,  four  Senators,  whose  probity  was  unimpeach- 
able, were  commissioned  to  investigate  and  report. 


ALEXANDER    III. CONSOLIDATION.  265 

Most  unusual  publicity  was  given  to  the  result  of  these 
investigations,  and  for  weeks,  the  press  and  the  public 
indulged  in  unlimited  vituperation  of  the  misde- 
meanors and  peculations  of. officials  of  all  ranks.  From 
the  Grand  Duke  at  the  head  of  the  naval  department, 
to  the  subaltern  of  the  Commissariat,  and  the  hostler 
who  deprived  the  horses  of  their  quantum  of  fodder, 
they  all  diverted  the  public  money  into  their  own 
pockets.  The  following  year  the  Czar  Alexander  II 
was  assasinated,  and  since  then,  no  publicity  has  been 
given  to  similar  investigations.  It  was  hardly  to  be 
expected. 

Though  bribery  and  corruption  are  by  no  means 
confined  to  Russia,  as  we  all  know  full  well,  yet  it  is 
easy  to  understand,  that  in  a  country,  where  public 
opinion  and  an  unmerciful  Press  are  not  constantly 
unearthing  offenders  and  denouncing  them  to  Justice, 
these  evils  may  acquire  dangerous  proportions,  and  be- 
come a  serious  danger  to  the  State. 

One  of  Bismarck's  favorite  maxims  was  that  "  in 
the  profession  of  politics  there  was  no  honest  man  ;  " 
and  while  he  was  in  power,  he,  unhesitatingly,  utilized 
every  available  talent,  even  if  it  were  picked  up  in  the 
slums.  Whereas  Alexander  the  Third,  who  is  the 
quintessence  of  honor  and  uprightness,  has  so  great  a 
horror  of  all  dishonesty,  that  he  will  not  tolerate  any- 
one around  him,  whom  he  even  suspects  of  being  lack- 
ing in  this  respect.  In  consequence  of  his  profound 
antipathy  for  all  kinds  of  dishonesty,  he  often  de- 
prives himself  of  the  assistance  of  men,  who  happen 
to  have  more  brain  than  conscience  ;  and  maintains  in 
power  many  whose  chief  recommendation  is  an  an- 
swerving  probity  and  singleness  of  purpose. 


266  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

The  Czar  is  himself  scrupulously  conscientious,  and 
husbands  the  resources  of  the  State  as  though  he  were 
only  a  Steward,  liable  to  be  called  to  account  at  any 
moment.  Like  Nicholas,  he  is  an  indefatigable 
worker,  and  tries  to  go  into  the  details  of  every  subject 
with  a  zeal  that  is  apt  to  be  detrimental  to  the  general 
good.  Alexander  the  Third  has  a  private  letter  box 
and  flatters  himself  that  any  and  all  communications 
reach  him  :  but  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared,  that  his  im- 
perial majesty's  correspondence  is  more  tampered  with 
than  that  of  any  of  his  subjects. 

No  breath  of  scandal  has  ever  tarnished  his  fair 
fame,  (the  barefaced  lies  of  nihilists  do  not  count)  and 
he  shares  with  the  late  Count  de  Chambord  (Henri  V.) 
the  rare  distinction  of  being  a  perfect  royal  gentleman. 
Simple  in  his  tastes,  frugal  in  his  habits,  wholly  imper- 
vious to  feminine  wiles,  devoted  to  his  task,  firm  and 
sagacious,  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  this  monster  of 
official  corruption  continues  to  flourish  in  the  light  of  a 
throne,  resplendent  with  so  many  virtues. 

Alexander  the  Third  began  his  reign  with  the  firm 
intention  of  stamping  out  this  inveterate  evil,  by  every 
means  compatible  with  autocracy.  If  he  does  not  use 
means  available  under  advanced  Republican  govern- 
ments— it  is  not  as  Mr.  Yolkhovsky  alleges,  because  of 
his  anxiety  "to  transmit  undiminished  to  his  children 
and  grandchildren  this  power  " — which  to  himself  is 
such  an  undesirable  burden — but  because  he  sees,  with 
every  impartial  and  disinterested  observer,  that  in  the 
astual  status  of  the  country,  only  a  strong  autocratic 
hand,  at  the  helm,  can  keep  the  evil  of  official  venality 
and  pilfering  in  check,  and  prevent  its  acquiring  the 
proportions  it  would  rapidly  reach,  if  the  country  were 


ALEXANDER     III.— CONSOLIDATION.  26T 

now  given  over  to  constitutional,  or  parliamentary  an- 
archy. 

The  Czar  has  made  many  examples  among  dishonest 
officials  of  high  rank,  and  -even  in  his  own  household. 
But  he  has  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  incur  the  repro- 
bation of  Mr.  Felix  Yolkhovsky  in  that  he  did  not  ad- 
minister condign  punishment  to  Count  Lieven,  Minis- 
ter of  State  Domains,  and  other  stealers  of  "  Virgin 
oak  forests  "-—1,358,14:8  acres  it  is  alleged.  Indeed, 
the  Czar  is  even  accused  of  compounding  with  felony, 
in  that  he  restored  some  of  the  offenders  to  office, 
in  view,  it  is  said,  of  covering  his  own  stealing  of 
a  slice  of  the  oasis  of  Merv.  (Introduction  to  Alexan- 
der III  by  Himmelstierna.) 

I  do  not  pretend  to  controvert  the  fact  of  the  forest 
stealing,  nor  do  I  question  the  exact  number  of  the 
acres  stolen.  I  would  venture,  only,  to  remark  that  it 
is  the  prerogative  of  all  rulers,  even  of  provincial  gov- 
ernors, and  governors  in  Republican  States  to  reprieve 
certain  criminals  and  give  them  a  chance  of  retrieving 
their  ill  doings.  Moreover,  I  should  like  to  inquire  if 
Mr.  Yolkhovsky's  knowledge  of  the  statistics  of  bribery 
and  corruption  in  other  countries  has  led  him  to  be- 
lieve that  parliamentary  and  republican  institutions  are 
so  infallible  a  panacea  against  these  evils,  that  Alexan- 
der the  Third  ought,  at  his  suggestion,  to  give  them  a 
trial  immediately,  and  at  all  hazards  ?* 

*MINNESOTA  ROBBED  OF  MILLIONS. 


STARTLING  DISCOVERIES    MADE  BY  THE    PINE    LAND    INVESTIGATING 
COMMIT  TEE. 

\_By'  Telegraph  to   The  Herald.} 

ST  PAUL,  Nov.  2, 1893.  —The  Minnesota  Executive  Pine  Land  Inves- 
tigating Committee  made  some  startling  discoveries  during  its  session 


268  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

It  is  true  that  one  will,  however  resolute  and  pow- 
erful cannot  accomplish  everything  in  a  limited  span 
of  years,  in  a  country  whose  area  is  greater  than  that 
of  the  full  moon,  according  to  Humboldt. 

Russia,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  is  in  a  transition 
state  since  fifty  years.  "  She  has  left  one  bank  and 
has  not  yet  reached  the  other.  "  The  emancipation  of 
a  handful  of  negroes  in  the  United  States  has  created 
problems  of  grave  menace  to  the  future  of  the  Repub- 
lic. How  much  greater  must  be  the  complications  of 
a  government  that  has,  so  recently,  conferred  the  rights 
of  citizenship  on  about  forty  millions  of  its  subjects, 
hitherto  debarred  therefrom  ? 

In  the  lives  of  nations  a  thousand  years  are  but  as 
one  day  in  the  life  of  the  individual.  Generations  of 
men  pass,  and  are  buried  away,  ingloriously,  in  the 
building  up  of  a  national  structure,  like  the  myriads 
of  little  carcasses  whose  dust  serves  to  build  up  the 
Coral  Islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  true  test  of  the  progress  of  a  nation  is  not 
found  by  applying  a  microscope  to  its  actual  short- 
comings and  deficiencies,  but  by  comparing  it  with 
itself  in  the  present  and  in  the  past.  Judged  by  this 
test,  Russia  can  certainly  challenge  the  criticism  of 
the  most  unprepossessed  observer..  The  enthusiastic 


yesterday.    The  session  was  an  executive  one,  but  Chairman  Ignatius 
Donnelly  made  public  some  ol  the  findings  last  evening.    He  said  :— 

"The  Stata  has  been  robbed  of  millions  of  dollars  by  some  ol  its  most 
prominent  citizens.  Some  of  the  robberies  are  of  the  most  surprising 
character.  Logs  have  been  stolen  by  wholesale  without  pretext  of 
title  to  ownership.  We  have  found  one  case  where  the  State  of  Min- 
nesota was  paid  for  600.000  feet  or  lumber,  and  the  quantity  of  lumber 
actually  taken  from  the  tract  measured  more  than  six  million  feet." 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  269 

reception  given,  recently,  to  the  Russian  fleet  by 
the  French  is  an  interesting  sign  of  the  times,  and  a 
proof  of  the  remarkable  strides  made  by  Russia  since 
a  hundred  years.  In  the  eighteenth  century  St.  Pe- 
tersburg was  a  boggy  marsh  inhabited  chiefly  by  bears 
and  wolves,  and  the  Muscovites  were  no  more  consid- 
ered in  Europe  than  are  the  Siamese  or  Persians,  at  the 
present  time. — To-day,  France,  so  long  the  leader  and 
the  dominator  of  Europe,  feels  flattered  and  reassured 
by  the  friendship  and  alliance  of  the  contemned  Mus- 
covites. 

We  are  impatient  because  we  are  mortal.  Because 
the  evils,  that  are  the  accumulated  legacy  of  many 
untoward  generations,  are  not  all  cured  in  a  decade  or 
two,  some  Russian  patriots,  as  well  as  foreigners,  are 
unsparing  in  their  denunciations  of  a  Ruler,  whose 
every  thought  is  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  his  country, 
and  whose  life  is  one  continuous  act  of  self-abnegation. 
For  to  Alexander  the  Third  the  burden  of  royalty  is 
almost  intolerable.  "It  is  very  hard  lines,  indeed, 
that  I,  of  all  others,  should  have  to  become  Emperor 
of  Russia, "  he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  when  he  was 
unexpectedly  called  to  the  throne,  by  the  untimely 
death  of  his  elder  brother.  The  only  happy  hours  of 
his  life  are  when,  on  his  free  evenings,  he  shakes  off 
the  gilded  trappings  of  State,  dons  a  peasant's  blouse 
with  leather  belt,  and  enjoys  the  society  of  his  wife  and 
children.  By  choice  he  would  infinitely  rather  spend 
his  life  in  physical  and  manual  labor,  of  which  he  is  as 
great  an  advocate  as  Leo  Tolstoi.  But  hewing  trees  and 
planing  lumber  are  pastimes  in  which  the  Czar  of  all 
the  Russias  may  only  indulge  at  his  hours  of  recreation. 


270  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

The  argument  against  the  Czar's  government  that 
George  Kennan,  a  Tinstar  of  "Stepniak,"  draws 
from  the  condition  of  these  ci-devant  serfs  is  unfair  in 
the  extreme.  Is  Russia,  the  only  country  in  the  world 
"  where,  as  Mr.  Kennan  alleges  "  millions  are  engaged 
"  in  a  desperate  and  almost  hopeless  struggle  for  a 
"  bare  subsistence  ? "  Has  Mr.  Kennan  never  read 
about  the  Irish  Peasantry  and  their  sufferings  in  time 
of  famine  ?  Of  the  crofters  on  the  bleak  and  barren 
uplands  of  Scotland  ?  Of  the  starving  multitudes  who 
live  "  from  hand  to  mouth  "  in  London  ?  Has  no  echo 
of  the  periodical  famines  that  decimate  millions  of  her 
majesty's  subjects  in  India  reached  the  psuedo  cham- 
pion of  the  alleged  "  people  of  Russia  ? " 

Because  these  evils  exist,  does  it  follow  that  "  The 
"  Rulers  of  England  "  are  oppressors,  whose  chief  aim 
"  seems  to  be  the  complete  destruction  of  all  the  lib- 
"  eral  institutions  that  their  predecessors  founded  "  or 
that  her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government  should  be 
made  the  target  of  every  scribbling  sensationalist  ? 

Mr  Samson  Himmelstierna  alleges  against  Alexan- 
der the  Third  that  "  he  avoids  the  discussion  of  sub- 
jects with  which  he  is  not  acquainted.  "  (Russia  un- 
der Alexander  III  p.  1 5.)  This,  I  should  say  was  that 
better  part  of  valor,  which  many  of  the  Czar's  tradu- 
cers  would  do  well  to  imitate.  Though  he  may, 
wisely,  object  to  being  taken  out  of  his  depths,  Alex- 
ander III,  in  his  unceasing  efforts  for  the  public  weal, 
gives  proof  of  the  highest  order  of  mind.  Though  he 
believes  in  exercising  his  royal  prerogatives,  he  is  never 
too  wise  to  be  taught,  and  earnestly  seeks  to  enlighten 
his  own  judgment,  by  consulting  with  those  who 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  271 

fire  likely  to  be  better  informed.  Like  Peter  the 
Great  he  sends  Commissioners  abroad  to  enquire  into 
the  most  improved  methods  for  conducting  the  differ- 
ent branches  of  industry  and  agriculture.  Kot  long 
since,  he  sent  a  thousand  years  old  Kussia  to  the 
School  of  Young  America  to  learn  the  best  modes  of 
cotton  culture,  of  reclaiming  lands  by  irrigation,  and 
running  railroads. 

^ 

Still  more  recently  Michael  Kazarin,  delegate  of 
the  Russian  Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  of  the  Rus- 
sian Prison  Administration,  has  been  charged  to  in- 
spect the  Penitentiaries  of  the  United  States  "  to 
learn  the  exact  methods  of  conducting  American 
Prisons,  in  order  that  Russian  Jails  may  be  improved 
accordingly  " 

"  Prisons  in  Russia,  "  said  Mr.  Kazarin,  "  have  been 
greatly  misrepresented  by  novelists  and  newspaper 
men  who  have  travelled  through  our  country.  They 
obtained  their  information  by  interviewing  prisoners 
and  not  by  observation.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
a  man  who  is  placed  in  prison  likes  it.  He's  not  put 
there  to  like  it  or  for  his  comfort.  A  prison  is  for 
punishment.  Fifteen  years  ago  Russian  prisons  were 
far  behind  those  of  other  countries,  but  that  cannot  be 
said  of  them  to-day.  Millions  of  dollars  have  been 
expended  in  improving  them  during  the  last  three 
years,  and  not  a  day  passes  that  some  change  for  the 
better  does  not  take  place. 

"  There  is  one  thing  connected  with  American  pris- 
ons that  would  not  be  tolerated  in  Russia.  It  is  the 
contract  labor  system.  The  sooner  it  is  abolished  the 
better  it  will  be  for  the  people  in  general.  Men  in 


272  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

prisons  in  Russia  do  about  the  same  class  of  work  as 
prisoners  in  the  United  States.  The  articles  manufac- 
tured by  them  are  sold  to  retail  dealers  by  the  Gov- 
ernment at  the  same  price  they  would  have  to  pay  for 
them  if  they  bought  them  of  free  producers.  In 
America,  producers  cannot  compete  with  contract  la- 
bor and  they  suffer  in  consequence.  I  have  talked 
with  many  high  personal  officials  regarding  the  matter 
and  they  all  unite  in  declaring  the  contract  labor  sys- 
tem a  bad  one. 

"  One  thing  is  very  noticeable  about  American 
prison  rules,  and  that  is  the  large  number  of  visitors 
allowed  to  call  upon  the  prisoners.  In  one  peniten- 
tiary I  visited,  10,000  visitors  had  been  admitted  dur- 
ing a  year.  In  Kussia,  only  relatives  are  allowed  to 
see  the  prisoners,  and  then  only  on  certain  days.  The 
rules  regarding  Siberian  exiles  are  not  half  so  strict  as 
they  used  to  be,  and  have  been  modified  greatly  re- 
cently. The  majority  of  those  sent  to  Siberia  now  are 
given  tracts  of  land  there,  their  families  are  allowed  to 
accompany  them  and  they  are  perfectly  free,  only 
they  cannot  leave  the  country. 

"  After  being  there  some  time,  it  is  not  difficult  for 
them  to  receive  pardons,  if  their  conduct  has  been 
good.  Many  men  sent  to  Siberia  become  quite 
wealthy  and  remain  there  for  life,  notwithstanding 
pardons.  Of  course,  the  worst  classes  of  criminals 
sent  there  have  to  work  in  prisons  so  many  years,  and 
when  they  come  out  they  are  not  allowed  to  leave  the 
country.  Many  of  these  men  are  of  ten  given  the  privi- 
lege of  returning  to  Russia. 

•*  Altogether,  I  think  American  prisons  the  best  in 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  273 

the  world,  but  Russia  is  rapidly  making  all  the  im- 
provements von  have.  I  think  the  new  intermediate 
State  reform  prison,  which  is  being  built  at  Mansfield, 
Ohio,  the  most  perfect  prison,  in  every  respect,  I  have 
seen  in  the  United  States.  "-—The  Evening  Telegram, 
Xew  York,  Sep.  9th,  1S93. 

This  is  %i  barbarous  "  Russia's  response  and  the  only 
one  she  is  likely  to  vouchsafe  to  the  scathing  criticisms  of 
which  she  has  been  the  object  in  the  United  States, 
among  a  certain  class.  It  is  in  this  magnanimous  way 
that  Alexander  the  Third  responds  to  the  abuse  that 
has  been  heaped  upon  his  government  by  a  leading 
Magazine.  I  refer,  in  particular,  to  two  virulent  ar- 
ticles, by  the  Jew,  Joseph  Jacobs  and  George  Kennan, 
that  appeared  in  the  July  Century,  1893,  at  the  very 
time  when  the  officers  of  the  Russian  fleet  sent  here  to 
do  honor  to  the  World's  Fair,  were  the  guests  of  the 
City  of  Xew  York. 

Let  us  hope,  en  passant,  that  when  Mr.  M.  Kazarin 
returns  home,  he  will  not  go  into  the  business  of  tra- 
ducing this  country  to  his  compatriots,  with  a  view  to 
"  making  his  everlasting  fortune." — Nothing  would  be 
easier  for  him,  than  to  establish,  by  quotations  from  the 
daily  Papers,  that  America  was  the  chosen  home  of 
barbarism,  oppression  and  crime. — He  might  refer 
sneeringly  to  the  magnificent  Penitentiary  at  Mans- 
field, Ohio,  as  one  of  our  "  Show  Prisons,  "  and  then 
drawing  out  a  bundle  of  ^s  ew  York  Worlds,  regale  his 
readers  with  the  "  horrors  of  the  Elmira  Prison  " — or 
those  described  in  this  passage :  "Cincinnati,  July 
"  14th,  1S93.  Xew  York  World.  Thomas  McKer- 
"  nan,  a  convict  who  had  been  shirking  work,  was  sub- 
18 


274  SLAY    AND    MOSLEM. 

"  jected  to  horrible  torture lie    was   handcuffed 

"  and    hanged  by    the  wrists his    ankles  were 

"  weighted  by  a  ball  and  chain,  "  etc.,  etc.  He  might 
also  moralize  on  the  treatment  meted  out  recently  to 
Emma  Goldman,  Zimmerman  and  other  patriots,  con- 
victed and  incarcerated  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey 
— for  no  other  crime  than  speaking  out  their  minds 
freely  in  public — and  this  in  a  country  where  free 
speech  and  a  free  Press  are  the  inalienable  rights  of 
every  citizen. 

Nor  could  anyone  say  that  his  assertions  were  "  un- 
proved and  unsupported  "  for  he  would  be  armed  with 
the  New  York  Dailies  and  his  Articles  in  the  "  North- 
ern Messenger,  "  the  "  Messenger  of  Europe,  "  or  the 
"  New  Time  "  Novoe  Yremya,  etc.,  would  be  bristling 
with  quotations  regarding  current  events,  and  not  like 
those  of  Mr.  Kennan's  which  refer  chiefly  to  1881- 
1882-1885.  In  his  Article  (Century,  July,  1893)  Mr. 
Kennan,  unable  to  appreciate  the  tact  and  reticence 
of  Mr.  Botkine  in  his  "Yoice  for  Russia  " — Century, 
Eeb.  Y,  1893)  launches  out  on  a  very  sea  of  interrog- 
atory interjections,  which  lie  hurls  one  after  the  other 
at  the  unarmed  champion  of  a  bad  cause,  minus 
"  proofs  " — minus  "  extracts  " — minus  "  selections  "- 
minus  "  statistics  " — "  minus  ail  things  " — Or  nearly  all 
— The  only  prop  of  poor  Mr.  Botkine's  "  unproved  and 
unsupported  "  assertions — is  the  Report  of  the  Fourth 
International  Prison  Congress.  And  this,  the  Goliath 
of  the  alleged  "  people  of  Russia  "  proceeds  to  demol- 
ish with  logic  so  startling,  that  I  cannot  refrain  from 
a  little  digression.  "  They  had  neither  experience 
"  nor  knowledge  to  justify  them  in  coming  to  any 


ALEXANDER     III. CONSOLIDATION.  275 

"  conclusion  at  all.  " — Such  is  Mr.  Kennan's  mages- 
terial  verdict.  Primo,  they  were  poaching  on  his  pre- 
serves. Secundo,  their  assertions  were  "  unproved  and 
unsupported  "  by  quotations  from  Mr.  Kennan's  "  Si- 
beria and  the  Exile  System  "  and  from  his  "  penologists 
of  recognized  reputation. " 

We  are  further  expected  to  believe,  on  the  author- 
ity of  the  Times'  St.  Petersburg  Correspond- 
ent, and  of  Mr.  Kennan's  correspondents,  that 
"  warned  by  the  Chief  of  the  Russian  Prison  Ad- 
"  ministration,  that  if  they  attempted  to  broach  the 
"  Siberian  Scandals  they  would  make  a  great  mistake  " 
—the  Members  of  this  Congress  forthwith  devoted 
themselves  "  to  banquets,  complimentary  speeches,  and 
"excursions" — this,  too,  at  a  time — says  one  of  the 
"penologists  of  recognized  reputation,"  "when  the 
"  remarkable  book  of  Gr.  Kennan  upon  Siberia  was 
"  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  many  of  its  members.  " — 
(p.  468,  Century,  July,  '93.) 

In  other  words,  the  want  of  conformity  in  the  judg- 
ment of  these  gentlemen  with  that  of  Mr.  G.  Kennan 
is  to  be  attributed ;  firstly,  to  gross  ignorance  of  the 
matter  on  hand  :  and,  secondly,  to  eating  and  drinking 
too  freely,  instead  of  attending  to  the  business  that 
had  taken  them  to  Russia.  They  were  even  so 
perverse  as  not  "  to  apply  for  information  to  Profes- 
"  sor  Sergeifski,  Professor  Foinitiski,  Mr.  Nitkin  or 
"any  Russian  penologist  of  recognized  reputation, 
"  who  would  have  furnished  them  with  a  translation 
"  of  two  remarkable  articles  upon  Russian  Prison 
"  methods  written  by  a  Russian  expert,  published  in  a 
"  legal  Journal  of  the  highest  character  ( ? )  and  ex- 


276  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM, 

"  pressly  dedicated  to  the  Members  of  the  Fourth  In- 
"  ternational  Prison  Congress. "  Finally,  we  may 
judge  of  the  full  depth  of  their  perversity,  when  we 
are  further  informed  that  "  the  pictures  of  Russian 
"  Prison  life  presented  by  the  author  of  these  Articles 
"  are  painted  in  colors  as  black  as  any  that  I  ( G.  Ken- 
"  nan  )  have  ever  used  and  reproduced  in  an  article 
"  entitled  "  The  Truth  about  Russian  Prisons, "  by  E. 
B.  Lanin  in  Fortnightly  Review,  July,  1890,  "  which 
"  inspired  Swinburne's  fiery  poem  in  defense  and  jus- 
"  tification  of  tyrannicide.  "  Quite  a  pool  among  these 
gentlemen !  G.  Kennan,  E.  B.  Lanin,  Volkhovsky, 
and  Dragomonof  seem  to  have  all  things  in  common, 
and  the  way  they  quote  from  themselves,  and  from 
each  other  is  quite  interesting. 

As  Czarowich,  Alexander  III  acquired  a  personal 
knowledge  of  the  horrors  of  war,  during  the  Bulgarian 
campaigns,  and  these  sad  experiences  served  to  inten- 
sify the  love  of  peace  which  he  shares  with  his  peace- 
ful moujiks.  Certainly,  if  there  be  war  in  Europe 
ere  long,  it  will  not  be  the  fault  of  Alexander  the 
Third. 

But  can  even  the  hand  of  an  Autocrat  restrain  the 
operation  of  this  strange  law  of  mutual  destruction, 
that  reigns  throughout  Nature,  beginning  in  the 
vegetable  Kingdom,  and  becoming  more  direful  as  it 
culminates  in  the  highest  sphere  of  its  operations.  In 
every  great  division  of  the  Vegetable  and  Animal 
Kingdom,  we  find  a  class  whose  role  seems  to  be  the 
destruction  of  other  creatures.  We  have  beasts  of 
prey,  birds  of  prey,  reptiles,  insects  and  even  plants  of 
prey.  Man,  the  arch  destroyer  of  life,  who  kills  for 


ALEXANDER    III. CONSOLIDATION.  277 

every  conceivable  purpose,  for  food,  for  clothing,  for 
ornament,  for  art  and  science,  for  amusement,  and  of- 
ten from  mere  wantonness,  seems  charged  to  execute 
the  portentous  law  against  his  fellow  man.  Men  have 
slaughtered  each  other  from  time  immemorial ;  and 
the  more  sacred  the  cause,  the  more  advanced  the  na- 
tion, the  more  deadly  has  been  the  carnage. 

It  is  customary  to  judge  most  superficially  of  Eu- 
ropean Wars  and  to  attribute  them,  without  any  fur- 
ther reflection,  to  the  petty  passions  of  despotic  Kings 
and  Priests.  But  has  human  blood  ceased  to  flow 
where  the  power  of  these  factors  is  no  longer  exer- 
cised ?  Can  we  even  hope  that  in  the  •"  Confederation 
of  Nations,  "  international  arbitration  will  stem  the 
gory  tide,  and  stay  the  fratricidal  effusion  of  blood, 
-when  we  have  seen  the  most  deadly  intercine  warfare 
rage,  for  years,  in  a  country  endowed  with  an  ad- 
mirable Constitution,  and  free  Republican  institu- 
tions ? 

Perhaps  the  extermination  of  savage  tribes  in  Af- 
rica may,  for  some  time  to  come,  satisfy  the  exigencies 
of  this  dire  law,  and  ensure  a  prolonged  peace  to  civil- 
ized nations. — But  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared,  that  the 
scramble  for  foothold  on  the  Dark  Continent  will,  on 
the  contrary,  be  only  another  casus  belli,  and  give  rise 
to  a  new  series  of  wars  to  maintain  "  the  balance  of 
power"  in  Africa. 

8i  mspcicem  para  bellum,  and  the  Czar  has,  for 
this  very  reason,  not  neglected  to  fortify  his  frontiers 
and  place  his  fleet  on  a  par  with  the  foremost,  while 
the  Russian  army  is,  undoubtedly,  the  largest  and  the 
best  equipped  in  Europe. 


278  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Tliis  peace  loving  Czar  has,  by  infinite  tact  and  for- 
bearance, brought  about  what  the  sword  was  unable  to 
accomplish ;  for  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  including 
Greece  and  Montenegro,  are  practically  Russianized, 
and  the  House  of  Romanoff  reigns,  already,  in  the 
hearts  of  these  various  peoples.  Against  such  sov- 
ereignty, diplomacy,  and  the  sword  are  alike  unavail- 
ing. 

If,  "  Peace  hath  her  victories  not  less  renowned 
than  war,  "  it  may  be,  that  to  Alexander  the  Third  is- 
reserved  the  glory  of  replacing  the  Cross  on  the  dome 
of  Saint  Sophia,  where  the  Credo  and  the  Te  Deum 
were  sung  in  union  by  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches, 
for  the  last  time,  in  I486.  And,  whatever  may  be  our 
lines  of  religious  demarkation,  it  would  surely  be  a  joy, 
transcending  all  petty  sectarian  differences,  to  see, 
again,  on  this  Venerable  Basilica,  the  Sign  of  the  Re- 
demption, that  Constantine  the  Great  exalted  on  all 
the  public  monuments  of  Constantinople,  fifteen  cen- 
turies ago. 


CONCLUSION.  279 


CHAPTEE  XYI. 


CONCLUSION. 


Notwithstanding  the  complacency  of  the  Powers, 
who  conferred  at  Berlin  in  1879,  the  Eastern  question 
was  far  from  solved.  It  was  only  complicated  and 
postponed. 

Contrary  to  all  precedent,  the  prime  minister,  Lord 
Beaconstield,  insisted  on  representing  England  him- 
self, at  this  conference.  So  anxious  was  he  to  assure 
to  the  Porte  every  shred  of  territory  and  authority, 
by  which  it  was  still  possible  to  bolster  up  the  crumb- 
ling institution  on  the  Bosphorous,  whose  days  were 
evidently  numbered.  The  man  who  had  been  hooted 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  when  he  made  his  maiden 
speech,  "in  a  bottle  green  frock  coat,  and  waistcoat 
"  of  white,  of  the  Dick  Swiveller  pattern,  the  front 
"  of  which  exhibited  a  net  work  of  glittering  chains  ; 
"  large  fancy  pattern  pantaloons  ;  clustering  ringlets 
"  of  coal  black  hair  that  fell  in  bunches  of  well  oiled 
"  ringlets  over  his  left  cheek  " — Benjamin  Disraeli, 
now  in  the  zenith  of  his  political  career,  found,  more- 
over, on  this  occasion,  an  irresistible  opportunity  for 
indulging  his  Oriental  love  of  theatrical  display.  He 
surrounded  his  journey  to  the  Continent,  with  all  the 
pomp  of  a  royal  progress,  and  postured  during  the 
Congress,  as  if  he  were  the  arbiter  of  the  destinies  of 
Europe. 

The   alleged  object    of  this   Congress  had  been  to 


280  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  Balkan  Christians, 
and  provide  for  their  future  welfare. 

But,  underlying  the  averred  object,  was  a  deter- 
mined intention  on  the  part  of  at  least  one  of  the 
Powers,  England,  to  maintain  the  Ottoman  Empire,  at 
all  costs,  and  no  matter  what  the  consequences  to  the 
peoples  for  whom  Russia  had  waged  war  in  1877. 
Since  fourteen  years  Austria  continues  to  occupy  Bos- 
nia and  Herzegovina,  militarily,  to  the  dissatisfaction 
of  all  parties.  The  Moslems  naturally  resent  the 
presence  and  interference  of  foreign  "  Christian 
dogs :  ':  Roman  Catholic  Slavs  are  discontented  at 
having  Magyar  Bishops  instead  of  Slavs ;  while  Greek 
Catholics,  who  compose  the  bulk  of  the  population, 
are  sullen,  and  distrustful  of  Austria,  whom  they  fear 
and  dislike. 

On  27  May,  1893,  the  Emperor,  Franz  Joseph 
"  congratulated  the  Austrian  and  Hungarian  delega- 
"  tions  on  the  fact  that  the  expenses  of  the  administra- 
"  tion  and  military  occupancy  of  Bosnia  and  Herze- 
"  govina  were  covered  by  the  revenue  of  these  prov- 
"  inces." — New  York  Herald. 

It  was  alleged  at  the  Conference,  that  the  measure 
was  requisite  for  the  maintenance  of  peace  in  Europe, 
with  which  it  absolutely  has  no  connection.  Later 
on,  Lord  Beaconsfield  himself,  openly  acknowledged 
that  the  arrangement  had  been  made,  in  order  that 
another  Power,  not  Russia,  should  be  on  the  high 
road  to  Constantinople,  in  case  the  long  expected  de- 
mise of  the  "  Sick  Man  "  should  occur,  unexpectedly. 
The  motive  was  puerile,  but  most  unfortunate  in  its  re- 
sults for  these  provinces,  whose  resources  are  taxed 


CONCLUSION.  281 

to  the  utmost,  to  support  a  foreign  army  of  occu- 
pation. 

The  most  unwarrantable  partition  of  Bulgaria  was 
another  point  on  which  Lord  Beaconsiield  succeeded 
in  defeating  what  should  have  been  the  object  of  the 
Berlin  Conference.  It  is  needless  to  say,  that  this 
measure,  too,  was  a  kind  of  prophylactic  against 
future  contingent  aggression,  on  the  part  of  Russia ; 
though  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  it  was  to  operate. 

The  Conference  of  Paris,  in  1856  had,  on  the  same 
principle,  endeavored  to  provide  against  the  union  of 
the  Danubian  Principalities,  and  signally  failed.  Mol- 
davia and  Wallacliia  became  united  under  an  heredi- 
tary Prince  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern.  Roumania, 
as  the  new  State  was  called,  joined  Russia  in  the  Bul- 
garian war,  and  obtained  the  full  recognition  of  her 
independence  by  the  Porte  and  by  the  Powers,  who 
conferred  at  Berlin  in  IS 79.  Slav  influence  is  pre- 
dominant in  the  governing  assemblies  of  this  thriving 
little  frontier  State.  And,  should  the  Russians  wish 
to  invade  the  Sultan's  dominions  to-morrow,  the  right 
of  way  through  the  Dobrudja  would,  no  doubt,  be  ac- 
corded to  them,  as  freely  as  in  1877,  the  very  contin- 
gency against  which  the  Powers  were  so  anxious  to 
provide. 

Eastern  Roumelia,  a  portion  of  Bulgaria,  handed 
back  to  Turkey,  succeeded  by  a  series  of  revolts 
against  Moslem  misrule,  in  acquiring  a  certain  inde- 
pendence, and  is  now  in  a  sort  of  anomalous  condition, 
waiting  for  Russia  to  complete  the  work  she  initiated 
by  the  Bulgarian  War. 

Austrian  influence  in   Servia   has   entirely   ceased. 


282  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Prince  Milan  prudently  abdicated  in  favor  of  liis  son: 
Alexander,  who  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  ward 
of  Russia ;  his  mother  Queen  Nathalie,  being  a  Rus- 
sian and  a  devoted  Panslavist.  Ristitch,  the  minister 
during  the  minority  of  King  Milan  expressed  the  sen- 
timents of  his  countrymen  and  indeed  of  all  the  Bal- 
kan Slavs,  when  he  said :  "We  can  never  forget  what 
"  Russia  has  done  for  us.  It  is  to  her  we  owe  our  ex- 
istence. It  was  Russia  who  in  1812,  1815,  1821, 
"  1830,  intervened  in  our  behalf.  It  is  useless  to  re- 
"  call  her  services  in  the  last  war,  (1877.)  It  is  from 
"  Russia,  that  we  expect  the  deliverance  of  all  the  Slav 
"  populations." 

The  Croatians  too,  resent  being  treated  like  a  Hun- 
garian dependancy,  and  look  forward  to  the  time  when, 
"  a  few  million  Magyars  will  be  swallowed  up  in  the 
"  Slav  ocean,  that  will  overwhelm  them." 

Montenegro,  the  brave  little  State  that  resisted  Mos- 
lem domination,  with  more  or  less  success,  for  five 
centuries,  enjoys  complete  independence  since  1879, 
and  is  devoted  to  the  House  of  Romanoff,  is  one  of  the 
family  in  fact. 

Justin  McCarthy,  correctly  diagnosed  the  situation 
in  the  Balkan  Peninsula  when  he  said,  that  "  to  the 
"  Slav  populations  the  neighborhood  of  Russia  has  all 
"  the  disturbing  effect,  which  the  propinquity  of  a 
"  magnet  might  have  on  the  works  of  some  delicate 
"piece  of  mechanism,  or  which  the  neighborhood 
"  of  one  great  planet  has  on  the  movements  of 
"  another." 

And  it  is  about  as  useless  to  seek  to  undermine  and 
destroy  Russian  influence,  nay  Russian  preponderance,. 


CONCLUSION.  283 

in  the  Balkans,  as  to  demagnetize  the  pole,  or  change 
the  immutable  laws  of  gravitation. 

Nevertheless  great  efforts  have  been  made  in  this 
direction. 

It  was  in  Bulgaria  chiefly  that  German  diplomacy, 
steered  by  Bismarck,  was  the  most  strenuous  in  its  ef- 
forts to  supplant  Russia.  After  the  Bulgarian  War 
and  the  Conference  of  Berlin,  there  was  at  Constanti- 
nople a  veritable  invasion  of  the  Teutons.  In  the 
course  of  a  single  year,  it  is  said  that  two  ,  hundred 
million  piasters  of  German  products  were  imported. 
Many  German  officers  commanded  in  the  Sultan's 
army,  and  patriotically  enabled  the  Fatherland  to  get 
rid  of  her  cast  off  guns  and  amunition,  by  foisting 
them  on  the  Turks.  Other  Germans  filled  high  offices 
in  the  State ;  and  they  were  all  fortunate  enough  to 
receive  their  salaries,  rather  an  unusual  thing  among 
Turkish  employees. 

Strong  influences  were  brought  to  bear  on  the  Bul- 
garians, who  were,  for  a  time,  persuaded  that  their 
worst  enemies  were  the  Russians,  to  whom  they  owed 
their  existence,  as  an  independent  State. 

But  the  irresistible  attraction  exercised  by  Russia  is 
reasserting  itself  in  Bulgaria.  The  tenure  of  Prince 
Bismarck's  creature,  Ferdinand  of  Coburg,  is  very 
precarious.  No  ovations  tendered  to  him  in  foreign 
States,  or  in  Bulgaria  ;  no  private  loans  made  to  him 
by  his  father-in-law,  or  by  Baron  Hirch,  can  confirm 
his  throne,  nor  induce  Russia  to  countenance  his  in- 
cumbency. His  presence  in  Bulgaria  is  a  direct  vio- 
lation of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  which  requires  that  the 
Prince  of  Bulgaria  be  unanimously  elected  by  all  the 
signatory  powers. 


28-i  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

Ferdinand  of  Coburg  is  in  Sophia,  merely  on  suffer- 
ance, and  until  some  other  arrangement  can  be  made. 
Unless  he  succeed  in  propitiating  Russia,  and  obtain- 
ing her  approval,  he  is  bound,  sooner  or  later,  to  go 
the  way  of  Alexander  of  Battenberg,  and  Milan  of 
Scrvia.  The  good  he  is  said  to  have  accomplished 
must  be  attributed  to  some  stronger  personality  than 
his  own.  In  spite  of  all  the  good  advice  he  received 
from  de  Burien,  Austria's  representative  at  Sophia,  he 
had  not  even  sense  enough  to  avoid  the  impolicy  of 
rousing  the  antagonism  of  the  Greek  National  Church 
of  Bulgaria ;  and  it  is  doubtful,  if  lie  can  ever  be  any- 
thing but  a  man  of  straw. 

The  Triple  Alliance,  whose  mandatary  he  is,  has, 
itself,  but  a  precarious  existence,  quite  as  much  so,  in- 
deed, as  the  superannuated,  rotten  institution  on  the 
Bosphorus,  which  the  Allied  Powers  are  pledged  to 
maintain. 

This  "  Dribund  "  is  composed  of  elements  so  incon- 
gruous and  antithetic,  that  it  must  end  in  dissolution. 
There  can  be  little  sympathy  between  Protestant  Ger- 
many and  Catholic  Italy,  whose  natural  ally  would  be 
France,  to  whom  she  owes  her  political  unity.  Austria 
cannot  so  soon  have  forgotten  Sadova,  while  the 
Irridentists  of  Italy  openly  claim  the  Italian  Provinces 
incorporated  with  Austria.  Moreover  Austria's  sym- 
pathies are  entirely  with  the  dethroned  Pope.  How 
then  can  she  consistently  band  herself  with  the  Gov- 
ernment that  has  overthrown  him  ;  and  how  long  can 
the  entente  cordial e  be  maintained  in  this  "  Happy 
Family,"  where  so  many  elements  of  discord  are 
rife  ?  ' 


CONCLUSION.  285 

Even  if  the  pressure  of  circumstances  should,  for  a 
time,  hold  together  the  nations  who  compose  the  Tri- 
ple Alliance,  the  ethnical  attraction,  which  is  drawing 
together  the  peoples  of  the  same  race,  will  assert  itself 
some  day.  When  this  day  arrives,  the  political  mosaique, 
known  as  the  Austrian  Empire,  will  be  the  first,  to 
feel  the  effects  of  the  working  of  these  latent  forces, 
and  resolve  itself  into  its  pristine  proportions.  The 
Slav  peoples,  who  compose  the  greater  part  of  this 
heterogeneous  empire,  and  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula, 
will  gravitate  towards  Russia ;  those  of  Teutonic  origin 
towards  Germany.  And  the  Latin  provinces,  wrested 
from  Italy,  will  probably  return  to  the  mother 
country. 

That  the  actual  modus  vivendi  in  the  Balkans  is  a 
precarious  one,  is  generally,  felt,  though  not  openly 
acknowledged. 

The  present  Sultan,  Abdul  Hamid,  is  only  a  locus 
tenens  of  his  brother  Mourad,  who,  on  account  of  par^ 
tial  insanity  was  pronounced  incapable  of  reigning  by 
a  "  Fetwa  "  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam.  The  same  symp- 
toms are  manifesting  themselves  in  Abdul  Hamid,  and 
State  and  religious  functionaries  are  already  discussing 
the  advisability  of  removing  him  from  the  throne.  A 
civil  war  in  Turkey,  is  one  of  the  many  contingencies, 
which  may  precipitate  the  dissolution  of  this  five 
hundred  year  old  monstrosity. 

Nor  are  theories  for  disposing  of  the  future  of 
Turkey  in  Europe  wanting.  The  most  plausible  of 
them,  seems  to  be  the  scheme  of  constituting  a  Feder- 
ation somewhat  like  that  of  the  Swiss  Cantons,  and  in 
which  Constantinople,  would  be  neutralized  and  trans- 


286  SLAY    AND     MOSLEM. 

formed  into  a  Free  Port,  under  the  conjoint  tutelage 
of  all  the  Powers. 

If  this  plan  were  carried  out,  the  Powers  would 
probably  find  rocking  a  cradle,  quite  as  onerous  as 
watching  by  the  "  Sick  Man's  "  death  bed. 

The  Swiss  Cantoris  enjoy  immunity  from  political 
interference,  on  the  part  of  European  nations,  for 
many  reasons,  which  do  not  exist  in  the  Balkan 
Peninsula.  Constantinople,  itself,  wrould  always  be  a 
tempting  en  jeu  for  ambitious  rulers ;  for,  by  her  posi- 
tion, this  city  commands  the  commerce  of  both  conti- 
nents, and  the  European  nation  who  held  it,  would  be, 
practically,  mistress  in  Europe  and  in  Asia.  This  is 
one  of  the  reasons,  why  the  Turkish  nonentity  has 
been  so  zealously  maintained  and  defended  against 
Russia,  whose  chances  of  gaining  the  prize  are  many. 

Russopholists,  imbued  with  the  traditional  cant 
about  Russian  greed,  and  the  urgent  need  of  saving 
the  world  from  Muscovite  despotism,  have  often  smiled 
at  the  naivete  of  those  who  believed  in  the  disinter- 
estedness of  Russia's  services  on  behalf  of  the  Balkan 
Christians,  whereas,  the  Northern  Bear  was  only  seek- 
ing to  devour  new  prey.  Formerly  such  accusations 
might  have  had  some  weight.  But,  as  Mr.  Gladstone 
once  remarked  :  "  The  public  can  no  longer  be  scared 
"  by  the  standing  hobgoblin  of  Russia.  Many  a  time 
"  has  it  done  good  service  on  the  stage  ;  it  is  at  present 
"  out  of  repair  and  unavailable." 

There  is,  indeed,  something  ludicrous  in  the  panicky 
fear  that  Russia  arouses  among  the  English,  and  in 
the  Quixotic  measures  taken,  from  time  to  time,  to 
stave  off  the  inevitable.  The  disastrous  Afghan  wars, 


CONCLUSION.  287 

as  well  as  the  Crimean  and  the  Persian  wars  were  in- 
spired by  this  dread,  which  increased  with  every  step 
of  Russian  advance  in  Central  Asia. 

In  1878,  on  one  memorable  night,  when  there  was  a 
rumor  that  the  Russians  were  actually  in  the  suburbs 
of  Constantinople,  "the  House  of  Commons,"  says 
Justin  McCarthy,  "  nearly  lost  its  head.  The  lobbies, 
"  the  corridors,  St.  Stephen's  Hall,  the  great  West- 
"  minster  Hall  itself,  the  Palace  Yard  beyond,  became 
"  filled  with  wildly  excited  and  tumultuous  crowds,"  p. 
604, Yol.  II,  "A  history  of  our  own  times."  The  English 
fleet  immediately  anchored  below  Constantinople,  and 
then  followed  a  little  scene  worthy  of  school  boys  on 
a  play-ground.  "  You  promised  to  keep  your  hands 
"  off,"  protested  Russia.  "  And  you  promised  not  to 
"  enter  Constantinople,"  cried  England.  "  Nor  have  I 
"  done  so,"  calmly  retorted  Russia,  "  but  I  will  if  you 
"  advance  another  step."  "  I  will  stay  where  I  am," 
said  England,  "  but  will  not  land,  if  you  will  promise 
"  again  not  to  pass  the  gates  of  Constantinople."  And 
thereupon  pourparlers  and  secret  understandings 
began,  that  resulted  in  the  Congress  of  Berlin. 

To-day  Russia  is,  as  regards  territory,  much  in  the 
position  of  a  Crossus,  to  whom  a  million,  more  or 
less,  must  be  so  indifferent,  that  he  can  hardly  be 
accused  of  struggling  and  dissimulating  in  order  to 
secure  it.  Indeed,  for  many  years  to  come,  additional 
territory  can  mean  nothing  but  added  burden  and 
expense  to  Russia ;  so  that,  if  she  should  make  any 
new  conquests,  it  certainly  would  be  done  only  under 
the  pressure  of  necessity. 

I  am  well  aware  that  some  Russian   writers  depre- 


288  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

ciate  the  value  of  Constantinople,  and  repudiate  all 
covetous  feelings  on  the  subject.  Nevertheless,  the 
Russians  are  certainly  heirs  at  law  of  the  Greek  Em- 
perors, from  whom  Constantinople  was  wrested  by  the 
Turks  in  1453;  and  the  "Holy  City,"  on  the 
Bosphorus,  must  be,  to  all  members  of  the  Greek 
Church,  what  Rome  is  to  Roman  Catholics,  all  over 
the  world.  It  is  their  religious  metropolis. 

Moreover,  there  is  a  law  of  national,  as  well  as 
physical  organisms,  that  compels  them  to  seek,  neces- 
sarily, their  natural  good,  self-preservation  and  develop- 
ment. Now  a  free  way  to  the  ocean,  at  all  seasons  of 
the  year,  is  as  necessary  to  Russia's  growth  and  expan- 
sion as  an  adequate  supply  of  oxygen  is  to  a  powerful 
and  growing  organism.  She  must  have  it  or  stifle: 
Russia  cannot,  therefore,  forego  Constantinople ;  ic  is 
for  her  an  imperious  necessity  that  she  have  fre6 
access  to  the  Mediteranean ;  and  to  secure  this,  the1 
key  of  her  house  must  be  in  her  power,  if  not  in  her 
actual  possession.  She  might  not  object  to  a  vassal 
door-keeper ;  indeed,  I  think  she  would  prefer  one. 
But  a  turnkey,  she  certainly  will  not  tolerate,  if  she 
can  possibly  help  it,  nor  could  any  one  expect  her  to 
do  so. 

But  Constantinople,  all  important  though  it  be,  is 
not  the  kernel  of  the  Eastern  Question.  Russia  could, 
&  la  rigtieur,.fmd.  her  way  to  the  Mediterranean  by 
way  of  Asia  Minor. 

One  of  the  tendencies  of  civilization  is  to  render> 
men  gregarious.  It  was  thus  that  our  far  away  ances- 
tors formed  themselves  into  groups  and  societies,  that 
developed  into  nations.  Several  of  these  nations, 


CONCLUSION.  289 

kindred  by  origin,  creed  and  language,  have,  in  the 
course  of  time,  been  arbitrarily  segregated  by  con- 
querors and  statesmen,  who  have  parcelled  them  out 
among  different  rulers,  according  to  certain  laws  of 
expediency,  and,  wholly  irrespective  of  natural  affini 
ties.  But  an  irresistible  movement  is  drawing  together, 
again,  these  disjointed  parts,  and  has  been  the  under- 
lying cause  of  recent  wars  in  Europe,  vulgarly 
ascribed  to  the  susceptibilities  and  ambitions  of  those 
in  power. 

German  unity  was  preluded  by  the  annexation  of 
Holstein,  wrested  from  Denmark  ;  the  Italian  wars  of 
1859,  the  war  between  Germany  and  Austria  in  1866, 
the  Franco  German  war  of  1870,  were  the  unconscious 
elaboration  of  this  attractive  force,  and  the  reconstitu- 
tion  of  Europe  according  to  the  ethnical  principle.  It 
is  the  fermentation  of  this  leaven,  complicated  by 
Moslem  misrule,  that,  properly  speaking,  constitutes 
the  Eastern  Question. 

The  unnatural  distribution  of  Europe  effected  by 
the  bloody  wars  of  Louis  XI Y,  and  the  First  Napoleon, 
will  probably  be  swept  away  some  day  in  a  still  more 
sanguinary  conflict.  In  their  new  baptism  of  blood,  the 
masses  will  awake  to  a  better  life ;  and,  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  their  long  unrecognized  royalty,  become,  for 
the  first  time,  the  arbiters  of  their  own  destinies. 

We  are  advancing  towards  a  time,  when  the  "con- 
federation of  nations,  and  the  Parliament  of  man," 
will  no  longer  be  a  poet's  dream,  but  accomplished 
facts.  North  America  has  already  furnished  a  proto- 
type of  the  Confederation  of  Sovereign  States,  harmo- 
niously welded  together  under  a  common  chief.  And 
19 


290  SLAY    AND    MOSLEM. 

if  such  confederations  are  to  exist  011  a  larger  scale,  we 
should,  of  course,  expect  that  the  great  branches  of  the 
human  race,  would  each  constitute  a  separate  confed- 
eration under  the  hegemony  of  the  principal  group. 

In  this  case,  nothing  would  be  more  natural,  than 
that  there  should  be  a  great  Slav  Confederation,  of 
which  the  Czar  of  all  the  Russia  s  would  be  the  center  ; 
and  a  great  Teutonic  Confederation,  to  which  all  the 
scattered  families  of  the  Fatherland  would  gravitate. 

England,  herself,  would  be  the  greatest  gainer  by 
such  a  movement.  Instead  of  undergoing  periodical 
dismemberments,  which  would  leave  her,  finally,  an 
object  of  venerable  pity,  in  the  insular  isolation  of  her 
waning  years,  she  would  rally  around  her  flag  the 
great  young  nations,  who  stole  her  fire,  and  became 
strong  and  prosperous,  at  a  bound,  so  to  speak,  because 
they  were  backed  by  centuries  of  training  ;  and  had, 
moreover,  inherited  a  noble  strain,  that  has  always 
produced  great  men,  in  every  walk  of  life. 

As  to  the  actual  masters  of  Constantinople,  and  the 
fair  lands  of  Turkey  in  Europe,  which  they  desolate, 
enough  has  been  said  to  convince  an  impartial  mind 
that  they  have  not  the  slightest  claim  to  any  civilized 
man's  sympathy.  Their  right  to  the  soil  is  one  of 
conquest,  it  is  true.  But  though  a  long  established 
precedent  has  unjustly  decided,  that  "might  is  right," 
even  conquerors  must,  by  conferring  benefits,  justify 
their  "right,"  if  it  is  to  become  imprescriptible.  And 
this  the  Turks,  unlike  other  conquerors,  have  never 
done. 

It  would  be  monotonous  to  multiply  documents, 
and  I  will  therefore  restrict  myself  to  a  few  statements 


CONCLUSION.  291 

which  will  amply  prove,  that  "the  careful  provision 
against  future  misgovernment,"  supposed  to  have  been 
made  by  the  Congress  of  Berlin — was  an  utter  failure. 
And  that  "the  opportunity-,  probably  the  last  obtained 
for  Turkey,  by  the  interposition  of  the  Powers, 
of  England  in  particular,"  was  completely  "  thrown 
away." 

In  1880  Sir  Henry  Layard,  an  earnest  Turcophil, 
admitted  that  "he  had  exhausted  every  diplomatic  re- 
"  source  to  bring  the  Sultan  to  a  sense  of  the  danger, 
"  to  which  the  empire  is  exposed."  For,  to  minds 
like  his,  Turkish  misrule  has  no  significance,  except 
when  considered  subjectively ;  what  the  unfortunate 
victims  of  this  misrule  suffer  is  quite  a  secondary  con- 
sideration, if  indeed  it  be  at  all  worth  considering. 

Lord  Granville,  in  the  same  year,  wrote  thus  to  Mr. 
Gochen,  during  the  latter's  official  residence  in  Con 
stantinople — "your  excellency  will  do  well  to  make 
"  the  Sultan  understand,  that  the  only  hope  of  main- 
"  taining  the  Ottoman  Empire  rests  upon  a  complete 
"  and  radical  reform,  both  in  the  capital  and  in  the 
"  provinces." 

Five  years  later  Mr.  Lavelye  wrote  :  "No  reforms 
"  have  been  effected.  The  situation  has  become  in  all 
"  ways  much  wrorse.  The  Porte  ridicules  the  admoni- 
"  tion  and  the  threats  of  England  and  the  other  Powers, 
"  and  nevertheless  all  the  Powers  agree  in  supporting 
"  this  abominable  rule,  which  is  ruining  the  popula- 
"  tions  of  every  race  and  every  faith."  Mr.  Lavelye 
is  by  no  means  a  Russophil,  and  his  testimony  is  in 
every  respect  reliable. 

Not  less  reliable  is  the  testimony  of  Robert  Mac- 


292  SLAV    AND     MOSLEM. 

kenzie.      I   quote   the   following   passage     from   his 
historical  work,  "  The  Nineteenth  Century;"  p.  399. 

"  If  the  social  condition  of  the  Turks  could  be  fully 
"  explained,  the  English  people  would  shudder  at  the 
"  thought  of  maintaining  a  horde  of  savages,  so  utterly 
"  debased.  But  that  is  impossible.  It  was  truly  said 
"  by  Cobden;  that  we  must  remain  ignorant  of  the 
"  social  condition  of  Turkey,  because  it  is  indescrib- 
«  able." 

"  Where  ignorance  is  bliss,  'tis  folly  to  be  wise." 

And  as  it  suited  "  British  interests  "  to  maintain 
the  Turks,  they  have  persistently  ignored  and  palli- 
ated the  utter  corruption  and  crimes  of  a  government, 
of  whom  they  are  the  self -constituted  sponsors,  by  the 
Anglo-Turkish  Convention  and  by  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin,  1879. 

Hall  Cain's  "  Scape  Goat,"  presents  a  truthful  pic- 
ture of  Turkish  misrule  everywhere.  The  system  of 
farming  out  taxes  in  Morocco  which  he  describes,  is  a 
common  practice  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  Not  the 
office  of  tax  collector  only,  but  of  judges  and  magis- 
trates ;  and  in  fact  every  official  position  is  obtained 
by  purchase,  and  retained  by  bribery.  Slavery  is  still 
a  recognized  institution  ;  and  quite  a  lucrative  traffic, 
carried  on  chiefly  by  women  of  rank. 

Not  only  have  the  Turks  paralyzed,  in  the  inarch  of 
progress,  the  nations  on  whom  they  have  preyed  for 
centuries,  but  these  Moslems  have  not  even,  in  them- 
selves, any  elements  of  evolution.  The  encomiums 
lavished  on  them  by  Turcophils  are,  no  doubt,  justified 
in  individual  cases  ;  but,  as  a  nation,  they  are  essen- 
tially non-progressive.  Their  limitations  were  many, 


CONCLUSION.  293 

and  they  were  quickly  reached.  Since  the  fifteenth 
century,  there  has  been,  no  development,  no  progress 
among  them.  And  there  can  be  none — for  the  Koran 
fixes  their  civil  and  criminal  laws. 

A  hard  and  fast  legislation,  adapted  to  the  status  and 
welfare  of  nomadic  bandits,  who  roved  around  the 
plains  and  plateaus  of  Asia,  twelve  centuries  ago,  sack- 
ing and  pillaging,  and  appropriating,  cannot  possibly 
be  that  of  a  civilized  and  progressive  State. 

For  education  the  Turks  care  nothing,  as  a  rule. 
The  only  book  the  men  are  taught  to  read  is  the 
Koran.  The  women,  with  few  exceptions,  are  wholly 
illiterate.  Why  indeed  should  anything  be  taught  to 
a  creature  supposed  to  have  no  soul  ? 

Financially  speaking,  Turkey  is  bankrupt,  and  her 
revenues  are  mortgaged  to  the  fullest  extent ;  only  one 
step  is  needed  to  precipitate  the  dissolution  of  a  body 
in  the  last  stage  of  decay.  This  would  be  the  secular- 
ization of  the  Yakoufs,  or  ecclesiastical  estates  and 
religious  foundations,  as  was  done  in  France,  by  the  Rev- 
olution of  1793.  It  would  be  the  extinguishing  of  the 
last  spark  of  religious  enthusiasm,  the  generating  and 
vivifying  principle  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  The  dan- 
gerous experiment  of  appropriating  ecclesiastical 
property,  has  been  tried  to  some  extent,  but  it  was  not 
successful,  even  from  a  financial  point  of  view  ;  for 
little  of  the  money  reached  the  Sultan's  coffers,  having 
been  diverted  into  the  pockets  of  State  function- 
aries. 

As  regards  agricultural  industry,  which  is  the 
principal  resource  of  the  country,  it  will  die  out  com- 
pletely, if  the  present  administration  lasts  much  longer. 


294  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

"  The  ground  lies  waste  at  the  very  gates  of  the 
"  capital,  and  solitude  spreads  in  the  most  beautiful 
"  regions  of  the  Empire,  on  the  shores  of  the  Sea  of 
"Marmora  and  the  ^Egean.  The  country  through 
"  which  we  passed,  writes  de  Blowitz,  was  a  desert  of 
"  immense  plains,  grassy  and  fertile,  but  uncultivated. 
"  The  deserted  villages,  on  all  sides,  indicated  former 
ft  prosperity,  but  the  inhabitants  had  fled,  and  bram- 
"  bles  grew  over  all.  Half  a  century  ago, 
"  many  of  these  villages  were  still  inhabited,  others 
"  have  been  long  deserted." 

Not  only  do  the  Balkan  regions  enjoy  the  most 
delightful  climate  in  Europe,  but  they  are  rich  in 
mineral  resources.  Gold,  quicksilver,  iron,  coal,  salt 
and  copper  abound,  in  easily  accessible  localities  ;  while 
a  long  stretch  of  sea-coast  affords  singular  facilities  for 
commerce.  Recently,  the  opening  of  the  Corinth 
Canal  has  added  to  these  facilities,  by  making  closer 
communication,  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
^Egean  Sea.  Trading  vessels  are  no  longer  obliged 
to  double  Cape  Matapan. 

Many  centuries  ago,  Venice  and  Genoa  realized  the 
great  natural  advantages,  enjoyed  by  the  Balkan 
Peninsula,  and  struggled  to  maintain  their  ascendency 
in  the  ^Egean  and  the  Bosphorus,  against  all  commer- 
cial rivals.  They  carried  on  a  lucrative  commerce 
with  Asia,  until  both  were  dispossessed,  by  the  savage 
conquerors  of  the  Western  Csesars,  the  Ottoman  Turks, 
in  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  Malthusian  theory  is  quite  at  fault  in  the  Bal- 
kan Peninsula.  For  in  spite  of  the  exuberant  fertility 
of  the  soil,  the  population  is  only  about  one-third  of 


CONCLUSION.  295 

what  it  used  to  be  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,  before 
the  fall  of  Constantinople. 

During  the  present  century  alone,  more  than  forty 
villages  are  said  to  have  become  extinct  in  Turkey. 

But  the  desolation  that  is  rapidly  gaining  ground, 
in  Turkey,  is  not  the  greatest  nor  the  only  evil.  There 
is  a  more  serious  one,  which  may  well  be  deprecated, 
even  by  remote  countries,  in  these  days  of  facile  inter- 
communication. 

Constantinople  is  becoming  more  than  ever  a  plague 
center,  whence  pestilential  germs  are  constantly  being 
exported  and  disseminated  throughout  the  world. 

The  only  practical  result  of  the  Emperor  William's 
visit  to  the  Sultan  in  1889,  was,  that  the  streets  of 
Constantinople,  which  "  had  been  in  a  deplorably 
filthy  condition  for  the  previous  ten  years,"  received  a 
thorough  cleaning  up.  Sanitary  reforms  moreover  are 
quite  impossible  under  the  present  regime,  where 
everything  remains  to  be  done,  while  inertia  and  cor- 
ruption reign  supreme. 

Justin  McCarthy,  who  is  so  frank  and  impartial  a 
writer,  in  spite  of  Russophobist  tendencies,  alleges  the 
difficulty  of  their  task  in  extenuation  of  the  notorious 
misgovernment  of  the  Ottoman  Turks. 

"  It  is  not  less  Turkey's  misfortune,"  he  says,  "  than 
"  her  fault — certainly  not  less  her  fault  than  her  mis- 
it  is  quite  amusing  to  read  in  the  New  York  Herald,  October,  1893, 
that  Turkey  has  quarantined  against  the  United  States  ;  that  no 
vessel  will  be  admitted  to  Ottoman  Ports  without  a  clean  bill  of 
health,  which  must  be  signed  by  the  Turkish  Consul,  of  New  York. 
They  are  perhaps  beginning  to  realize  that  they  have  no  use  for  im- 
ported germs,  of  any  kind,  as  they  cultivate  enough  to  supply  not 
only  the  Russian  Empire,  but  the  whole  world  with  comma 
baciii. 


296  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

"  fortune — that  her  way  of  governing  her  foreign  pro- 
"  vinces,  (meaning  Turkey  in  Europe,  the  major  part 
"  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.)  Fate,  (represented  by 
"  England  since  1696,)  has  given  to  the  most  incapa- 
"  ble  and  worthless  government  in  the  world,  a  task 
"  that  would  strain  the  resources  of  the  most  accom- 
"  plished  statesmanship." 

"  The  Turkish  Government  managed  the  matter 
"  worse  than  it  might  seem  possible  for  a  government 
"  to  do,  which  had  been  brought  for  centuries,  within 
"  the  action  of  European  civilization.  Turkish  rule 
"  seems  to  exist  only  in  one  of  two  extremes.  In  cer- 
"  tain  places,  it  means  entire  relaxation  of  authority  ; 
"  in  others,  it  means  the  most  rude  and  rigorous 
"  oppression.  The  warlike  inhabitants  of  some  high- 
"  land  region,  live  their  wild  and  lawless  lives,  with 
"  as  much  indifference  to  the  officials  of  Stamboul.  as 
"  to  the  remonstrances  of  Western  statesmanship. 
"  But  it  may  be,  that  not  far  from  their  frontier 
"  line,  there  is  some  hapless  province,  whose  people 
"  feel  the  hand  of  Turkey,  strong  and  cruel,  at  every 
"  moment  of  their  lives.  It  happens,  as  is  not  1111- 
"  natural  in  such  a  system,  that  the  repression  is  lieavi- 
"  est  where  it  is  least  needed,  and  that  in  the  only 
"•  cases  where  severity  and  rigor  might  be  exercised, 
"  there  is  an  entire  relaxation  of  all  central  authority. 
"  P.  586,  vol.  II.  A  history  of  our  own  times." 

All  this  is  rigorously  true.  The  Ottoman  Govern- 
ment has  abundantly  proved,  since  five  centuries,  that 
it  is  utterly  unworthy  and  incapable  of  tilling  the  posi- 
tion it  occupies.  Yet,  in  1856,  England  made  a  des- 
perate effort  to  re-organize  and  admit  the  Turks  into 


CONCLUSION.  29  T 

the  political  fellowship  of  European  States,  a  privilege 
from  which  they  had  hitherto,  been  debarred,  by  com- 
mon consent — and  for  good  reasons.  Yet,  during  the 
thirty-five  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  Crimean 
War,  the  Porte  has  given  no  signs  that  it  is  more  fitted 
to  govern.  On  the  contrary,  the  most  sanguine  of  its 
supporters  begin  to  despair  of  its  future. 

Between  1756  and  1857,  England  has  deposed  Mus- 
sulman Princes  in  India,  one  after  another,  and  an- 
nexed their  territory,  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
incapable,  or  unworthy  to  govern,  even  peoples  of  their 
own  race  and  creed.  Why  should  Russia's  hand  have 
been  stayed  whenever  she  has  attempted  to  carry  out 
the  same  policy,  in  a  country  adjoining  her  Empire  ? 
She  could,  at  least,  allege  that  the  peoples  so  oppressed 
were  her  kindred,  by  origin  and  creed  ;  whereas  Eng- 
land had  no  such  pretext  in  India. 

So  much  for  the  carrying  out  in  European  Turkey 
of  the  programme  of  reform,  devised  by  the  Berlin 
Conference. 

But  "  the  careful  provision  against  future  misgov- 
ernment,"  made  by  the  Signatory  Powers  at  Berlin  in 
1879,  did  not  regard  Turkey  in  Europe  only.  Lord 
Salisbury,  alluding  to  the  Anglo  Turco  Convention, 
also  informed  the  Powers,  that  "arrangements  of  a 
"  different  kind,  having  the  same  end  in  view,  had 
"  provided  for  the  Asiatic  dominions  of  the  Sultan, 
"  security  for  the  present,  and  hope  of  prosperity  and 
"  stability  for  the  future."  If  he  meant  "  security 
and  prosperity,"  for  the  unfortunate  Christians  in  the 
East,  certainly  these  arrangements  were  most  unsatis- 
factory, as  far  as  Armenia  was  concerned. 


298  SLAV    AND    MOSLEM. 

In  June,  1889,  Lord  Carnarvon  informed  the  House 
of  Lords,  that  "  a  million  of  Christian  people  were 
"  being  ground  down  by  misery  and  oppression  in 
"  Armenia.  Men  were  put  to  death  in  the  most  bar- 
"  barous  manner ;  women  carried  off  or  subjected  to 
"  the  most  horrible  cruelties."  (New  York  Herald, 
June  30th,  1889.) 

And  these  miserable  Turks,  for  whom  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin  and  the  Anglo  Turko  Convention,  were  no 
more  sacred  than  the  treaties  of  Kainardji,  or  of  Ad- 
rianople,  looked  on  complacently  at  the  atrocities  com- 
mitted by  Moussa  Bey  and  his  savage  Kurds,  utterly 
unmindful  of  their  solemn  engagements,  to  protect 
these  Christian  subjects  from  the  outrages  to  which 
they  were  subjected. 

Like  Pilate  of  old,  Lord  Salisbury  washed  his  hands 
from  any  responsibility,  and  lefused  to  admit  that 
England  had  made  herself  in  any  way  answerable  for 
the  maintenance  of  order  in  Turkish  dominions.  Yet 
she  most  certainly  did  so,  conjointly  with  the  other 
Powers  at  Berlin,  (Section  6)  and  more  especially  so 
by  the  Anglo  Turko  Convention.  If  she  does  not  see 
fit  to  call  her  proteges  to  account,  Russia  may  once 
again,  as  in  1877,  relieve  her  in  the  discharge  of  this 
duty. 

Nor  was  it  in  Armenia  alone  that  the  "provisions" 
made  by  the  Berlin  conference,  totally  belied  the  ex- 
pectations of  Christendom.  In  July,  1889,  the  Sultan 
sent  re-inforcements  of  troops  to  quell  the  insurrec- 
tions that  were  expected  to  break  out  in  the  island  of 
Crete,  among  the  oppressed  Greek  Christians.  The 
Triple  Alliance  having  undertaken  the  maintenance 


CONCLUSION.  299 

of  the  Turkish  Empire  as  the  basis  of  their  pro- 
gramme, "carefully  considered"  the  condition  of 
these  unfortunate  Greek  Christians. 

The  allied  powers  demanded  from  the  Sultan  that 
the  Island  should  have  a  Christian  governor,  and  a 
mixed  council,  half  Moslem  and  half  Christian,  ac- 
cording to  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.  The  Porte  responded 
by  sending  another  Moslem  governor,  with  a  well 
established  reputation  for  religious  fanaticism. 

In  a  word,  the  same  nugatory  negotiations  were 
gone  through  between  the  European  Powers  and  the 
Porte  as  in  1876,  the  former  demanding  guarantees 
against  future  misgovernment  and  oppression,  the 
latter  promising  full  satisfaction,  and  always  evading 
the  fulfillment  of  any  of  its  engagements. 

Massacres  in  Crete  in  1866  preluded  the  great  atro- 
cities that  led  to  the  Bulgarian  war  in  1876.  And  it 
may  be  that  what  is  being  perpetrated  in  Armenia  is 
only  the  signal  for  some  new  developments  in  the 
blood-stained  career  of  the  Osmanlis  Turks.  "We 
"  may  ransack  the  annals  of  the  world,"  says  Glad- 
stone, "but  I  know  not  what  research  can  furnish 
"  us  with  so  portentous  an  example  of  the  fiendish 
"  misuse  of  the  Powers  established  by  God  for  the 
"  punishment  of  evil-doers,  and  to  reward  them  that 
"  do  well.  No  government  has  ever  so  sinned,  none 
"  has  so  proved  itself  incorrigible  in  sin,  or  which  is 
"  the  same  thing,  so  impotent  for  reformation." 

When  during  one  of  Russia's  most  successful  cam- 
paigns, (1774,)  some  one  suggested  to  the  Turks  that  it 
might  well  happen  that  the  tide  of  war  landed  them 
at  Scutari,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Bosphorus.  "What's 


300  SLAV    AND   MOSLEM. 

the  odds,"  was  the  reply,  "we  can  smoke  our  pipes 
there  as  well  as  here."  This  rejoinder  is  characteristic 
of  the  Osmanlis  Turks.  Sloth,  selfishness,  absence  of 
all  chivalry,  patriotism  and  justice.  Such  are  the 
flowers  and  fruits  of  this  upas  tree,  under  whose 
baneful  shadow  the  fairest  lands  of  Europe  languish 
since  nearly  five  centuries.  When  will  all  the  nations 
of  the  world  concur  in  saying  "Cut  it  down,  why 
cumbereth  it  the  ground  ?" 

Overwhelmed  by  their  own  pre-occupations  and  the 
struggle  to  live,  civilized  nations  have  somewhat  lost 
sight  of  the  sad  condition  of  fellow  Christians,  groan- 
ing under  Turkish  misrule.  A  wailing  echo  reaches 
us  from  time  to  time,  as  recently,  in  April,  1893,  and 
again  in  August,  1893,  when  Armenians  residing  in 
New  York  "adopted  resolutions  against  the  oppres- 
"  sion  of  their  countrymen  in  Armenia  by  the  Turks, 
"  and  asking  civilized  communities  to  aid  them  in  re- 
"  lieving  their  native  land.  They  appeal  to  the  sig- 
"  natory  powers  of  the  Berlin  treaty  for  protection, 
"  and  state  that  the  reforms  vouchsafed  by  the  various 
"  existing  treaties  affecting  their  country  have  never 
"  been  secured.  They  also  ask  the  British  govern- 
"  ment  to  lose  no  time  in  the  specific  enforcement  of 
"  her  treaty  stipulations  with  Turkey."  (New  York 
Herald,  22d  August,  1893.) 

The  total  and  most  notorious  non-observance,  by  the 
Porte  of  the  stipulations  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  is 
another  casus  ~belli,  of  which  Russia  may  at  any  mo- 
ment avail  herself,  whether  the  other  signatory  powers 
choose  to  join  her  or  not,  in  the  invasion  of  Ottoman 
Territory,  to  coerce  the  Turks  into  due  performance 
of  their  obligations. 


CONCLUSION.  301 

As  in  the  past,  the  momentary  indignation  roused 
by  new  acts  of  Moslem  brutality,  is  quickly  appeased 
by  perfidious  protestations  and  nugatory  concessions. 
Christian  peoples  lay  to  their  souls  the  nattering 
unction  contained  in  Lord  Salisbury's  suave  words, 
"careful  provision  has  been  made  against  future  mis- 
government." 

And  so  time  glides  by,  till  the  inevitable  day,  when 
the  inexorable  Eastern  Question  will  burst  upon  us 
again  like  a  thunder  clap. 


NEW  YOKK,  APRIL,  1889. 
AIKEN,  S.  C.,  NOVEMBER,  1893. 


7 


U.C.BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


